Unknown Depths Below
by Tucker's Mayflower
Summary: Everyone has faced an Everest before, their own personal hole in the ground where the future is uncertain and all things seem bleak. This is the story of Isaac's journey; join in as we follow him down...into the unknown depths below.
1. Down Below

_Hello, hello, my dungeon-rats! Mayflower here! Sorry about my absence recently - I don't know if you heard, but this 'Wrath of the Lamb' thing came out. I've been a little busy with that - it's kind of awesome. Anyway, with Platinum God nearly in my grasp, I decided to get to work on this story that's been sitting in the cellar for a while while I wait for Edmund McMillen's response to "seriously, McMillen, this isn't fun anymore - where the F %&'s that Polaroid when you need it?" Bathe in the excellence of this moment, Isaac board - it usually takes me months or years to finish full-length stories, and I pulled out this one in two weeks. I simply couldn't put it down, so I hope the same stands for you. :)  
_

_Anyway, I'll quit my rambles. Everybody pick your character, grab some popcorn during the opening cinematic, and let's get started!_

**LAWYERBOT SAYS: "Uh-oh! The multichapter race in the Isaac board is on!"  
**The Binding of Isaac, including all related characters, items, and locations (c) Edmund McMillen, because he's awesome.  
Original story of 'the binding of Isaac' (c) Genesis 22, one of the MANY Biblical fun-facts I learned on this journey.**  
**

Please note that the following is simply one take on a novelization of this epic adventure. The game is deep and symbolic, therefore meant to be open to interpretation. Please do not correct my version, merely enjoy it for the experience. :)

* * *

**CHAPTER ONE: Down Below**

Isaac shivered as he finally awoke, his fingers shaking over his cold, exposed skin. He half-mindedly reached for his blanket, but the lack of a blanket and the ache of his back quickly reminded him of his situation.

This wasn't his bedroom.

It was the basement.

A fresh wave of tears coming down his face, Isaac remembered the story as he got back to his feet. Losing his crayons, being stripped down and locked in his room, his mother grabbing the butcher knife...

He froze. _Oh, no, Mom!_

In an immediate panic, Isaac set off running through the basement, although he didn't remember it being nearly so expansive. Where was she? She could be anywhere! Where was she hiding? Did she still have the knife? Did God still want her to kill him?

All of Isaac's panic was quickly dismissed as he turned the corner and nearly ran face-first into another living creature.

It looked about his size, just a bit bloated. It walked with a funny limp, and had big, black eyes that looked about to burst into tears...not unlike Isaac's.

The refugee was timid in his approach, taking a cautious step forward with his arm extended towards the creature. "Uhm...hi?"

The creature gave a small cry, nervously limping for its life. It was a good bit slower than Isaac, but despite its lack of speed, it seemed dead-set on getting as far from Isaac as it could.

"No, no, don't run!" Isaac had always been soft-hearted, and could never stand watching other things suffer. Besides, they were stuck down here together, right? Why not stick together? Maybe together, they could find their way out. So Isaac gave chase after the creature.

Which promptly took a deep breath and blew itself up once Isaac was a little too close, exploding in a hail of bloody flies.

Said flies were quick to attack, swarming Isaac and spinning around him, buzzing loudly as they pecked and poked at him. The young refugee did what he could to swat them away, but unlike the flies outside his house that went away with a good smack, these kept coming again and again. They kept biting and biting, turning Isaac's skin raw with their aggression, sending sting after sting of pain through his small frame.

Isaac begged for them to stop, another wave of tears falling down his face. But this time was different. This time, the tears splashed away from his face, instead crashing into the flies. After a few hits of saline, the flies were defeated, disappearing in small poofs, leaving Isaac alone in the room as if they were never there.

A shaky Isaac attempted to calm his rampant tears as he examined his wounds, but to no avail - he couldn't stop crying. Which wasn't necessarily a bad thing - apparently, flies didn't like the taste of tears. Was that a good thing? Should he be concerned?

Ah, no time for that - he had to keep moving!

xxxxxxx

As Isaac eventually learned, it wasn't only flies that disliked the feel of saline. There were also the mulligans, the pacers, the clotties, the hoppers, the moters, and the pooters. (All names that Isaac assigned himself - he was never one for not knowing things' names, but since none of these...whatever-they-weres would stop and speak with him, he had no choice but to improvise.)

There was one room, though, that didn't contain any enemies. It was a pretty room, with a gold crown above the door. It was warm, unlike the rest of the unforgiving basement, because a small fire was burning on scraps of kindling in each corner. In the center of this room was what appeared to be a small child...

...From a distance.

As Isaac was sickened to discover, the baby was deceased. It was a sick blue color, as if it were suffocated, and lay on the rock pedastal in the middle of the room, alone and unmoving.

Nervously, Isaac gave the babe a gentle shake; not that he was expecting a reaction or anything, mind you.

Which is why he was nearly horrified when he got one. The baby hopped to life, giving a few slimy spits that seemed to follow the same pattern of delayed gravity as Isaac's tears before floating around Isaac's head.

The panicked refugee tried to shoo the undead creature away. "Hey, what're you doin'? Stop it, go back to playing dead, you're scaring me!"

"Calm down, Isaac! They're here to help!"

Temporarily forgetting about the little baby, Isaac looked up to the door. There was a girl standing there, timidly tucked behind the doorframe, trying to hide her round face and dark eyes behind her mass of bright blonde curl. There was a baby floating behind her, only where Isaac's was blue, the other one was red.

Not having a history of good encounters in this basement so far, Isaac was hesitant about reaching out to her. He took a nervous step backwards, and the baby in blue followed suit.

"No, no, don't be scared!" the girl apologized, panickedly stumbling forward and reaching her arms out. "I won't hurt you, I promise."

"...You promise?"

"Yeah." The girl fixed her blonde mane, or at least as much as one could. "What are you doing down here?"

"My mom chased me down here," Isaac admitted shyly, rubbing his barren arm. "D-Do you know how to get out?"

The girl looked aside sadly, shaking her head. "Sorry. My mom chased me down here, too. I've been stuck ever since."

There was an awkward silence as Isaac gave the girl another look-over. Was it possible that this wasn't the first time? That Mom did this before? That he actually had..._a sister?_

"...What's your name?"

"Magdalene." She giggled at the confused look on Isaac's face, the refugee struggling to wrap the intricate name around his tongue. "Y'can call me Maggie fer short." Struck with realization, she motioned back to her baby in red. "This is my baby sister. I named her Maggie, too."

"I'm Isaac." After a short pause, Isaac looked back at the floating babe at his side. If Maggie named hers, he had to name his, right?

_Bob. That sounds like a good name for him; he'll be Brother Bobby._

xxxxxxx_  
_

"AAAAAAAAAGH!"

The creature the siblings decided to dub 'Monstro' gave a wicked chuckle, licking its fat tongue over its harelip before a throaty cough led to a huge wave of blood and sick to crash in their general direction, and they just barely escaped.

Isaac was quick to learn one thing about the stranger Magdalene - she was SLOW. Identical to Isaac in almost every way except for hair and gender, but she could only move at a brisk walk, whereas Isaac had the energy to sprint as fast as his legs could carry.

Only being a young boy, he had to blame it on the fact she was a girl.

Luckily, he had managed to carry her through the fight, albeit quite worse for wear, and Monstro finally crumbled into a heap of blood and gore after several-hundred tear shots. (She was also right about the babies they found, though - Brother Bobby and Sister Maggie were great assets between Bobby's spitting up saliva and Maggie spitting up what they could only cringe and assume to be blood. Both of which seemed to operate just as well as the siblings' tears.)

"We made it," Isaac panted, laying on the ground as he allowed the pain racking through his body to calm down. Monstro had landed a good shot, and all of the blood and sick had re-irritated the fly wounds from earlier, causing his entire body to sting all over again.

"Are you okay, Isaac?"

Isaac shook his head no, so Maggie scooted closer and offered him some food. It was a blood-red chunk of Isaac-wasn't-sure-what that seemed to pulse in Maggie's tiny hand. "Go on, eat it, you'll feel better," she encouraged.

So Isaac sat up and took a trepid bite. It was quite yummy; warm and oozy, just like biting into breakfast oatmeal before Sunday school. She called it her Yum Heart, but Isaac wasn't bothered to ask why - point is, he immediately felt a lot better!

There was just one problem, though: "Well, we explored every room. Now where do we go?"

Magdalene tugged on her partner's arm, pointing him towards the opposite wall. "We could always go that way."

Isaac looked, immediately spotting the hole in the floor that wasn't there moments ago. "...Where did that come from?"

"Dunno."

"...Y'think we should?"

"Not really. It really hurt to jump down the last hole. I don't wanna do it again."

"Me, neither."

Both of them seized with fear when an echo shook through the basement, though: _**I~SAAC!**_

"Oh, no, that's Mom!" Isaac panicked.

"We can't let her find us!" Maggie squealed.

The two turned their matching dark eyes to the hole in the floor.

There just wasn't any other way.

* * *

_And so, the adventure begins anew! What kind of disasters will Isaac and Maggie stumble upon in the next area? Only one way to find out - sacrifice your only child!_

_...I mean tune in next time! :D  
_

_____**§ Tucker's Mayflower, signing off! §**_


	2. Out for Blood

_Hello, dungeon-rats! Look, I'm back with a regular update! BE AMAZED! Granted, this chapter's a bit on the short side, now that I look at it again...Maybe you guys'll get an extra chapter before next week. ;)  
_

_Anyway, I shouldn't be taunting you with the promise of weekly updates, much less bonus content. WE HAVE EXPLORING TO DO! ON WITH THE SHOW!  
_

**LAWYERBOT SAYS: "Seriously, she never posts. Don't buy her story about regular updates."  
**The Binding of Isaac, including all related characters, items, and locations (c) Edmund McMillen, because he's awesome.  
Original story of 'the binding of Isaac' (c) Genesis 22, one of the MANY Biblical fun-facts I learned on this journey.**  
**

Please note that the following is simply one take on a novelization of this epic adventure. The game is deep and symbolic, therefore meant to be open to interpretation. Please do not correct my version, merely enjoy it for the experience. :)

* * *

**CHAPTER TWO: Out for Blood**

Isaac's mother had always warned him to stay out of the cellar. "Stay back, Isaac, the cellar's full of spiders, and I don't want you getting bit."

Well, the cellar was definitely full of spiders. Spiders and arachdoubles and spider boils and spider-hoppers. There were also more flies and pacers and gapers, though, as well as big, bloated mulligans that had bombs stuck to their heads. (Those hurt, especially if you were too slow to outrun them, like a certain blonde in their group.) Isaac couldn't help but think it was more than the spiders that his mother didn't want him to find down here.

"I never want to see another spider again!" Maggie cried, munching on her Isaac-still-didn't-know-what as she nursed a nasty burn on her arm, courtesy of her latest run-in with the boomigans. "Or anything else that Mom has hiding down here!"

As much as Isaac hated hearing people cry, though - especially girls, as his mother tried to raise him to be a gentleman - there was another problem that needed his attention first. Similar to the first floor, he found another room with the gold crown above the trim. This one, however, had the door kicked in, and there was a bloody trail of tears leading to the center of the empty room. There was burnt-out kindling hidden in the corners, all surrounded by puddles of tears and blood.

"Hey, Maggie?" Isaac called to the blonde just outside the door.

She forced her tears to slow so she could answer coherently. "Yeah, Isaac?"

"Have you...seen anybody else down here?"

Magdalene shook her head, causing her blonde curls to bounce around. "Nope. Just me. And you, a'course." After a moment, she realized the repercussions of the question with a tilt of her head. "...Why'd ya ask?"

Isaac looked again at the trails left behind in this oddly-empty room. Was it possible there was someone ELSE stuck down here, too? Or was this just another one of the monsters?

"...Don't worry about it; it's probably nothing."

xxxxxxx

Just like last time, Isaac and Maggie reached the final room of the cellar. They were hoping to find another hole to jump into - or even better, a doorway out - and were reasonably disappointed when the room was empty. But at least there was no Monstro in it, right?

_Hiss...Clickclickclickclick..._

...Right?

"Get out of the way! What are you two doing?"

Moments blurred by as the refugees were suddenly pushed out of the way, just in time for a loud THUMP! to crash in front of them. When they regained their senses, the empty room was now filled with a huge spider, which gave a loud growl before giving the same hacky cough as Monstro did.

Only this time, the blood and sick was replaced by a wave of spiders.

"Maggie, look out!" Isaac jumped, grabbing the blonde's hand and dragging her out of the way of the oncoming skittering monsters.

The giant widow had other plans, though; it jumped halfway across the room, landing right in their path with a squishy sort of squelch, spilling a warm, sticky white goo all over the floor.

Isaac managed to rush out of the way, but when he turned to look back, he found himself alone. "Maggie!"

Magdalene was still staring down the monstrous spider, tears crashing from her eyes in fear and panic...and in this case, self-defense. "Isaac, I'm stuck!" she cried, trying to pull her feet from the goo. "I can't move!"

_And she was slow before, _Isaac couldn't help but think with a giggle. He shook out of it, though - this wasn't the time for jokes! Maggie was in serious trouble!

The spider growled again, slowly looming down on the young blonde...but at the last second, its extra eyes darted away, turning its attention elsewhere and giving Magdalene time to escape.

Isaac looked for the spider's new target. In the other corner, he spotted another boy, this one sporting long brown hair that was tied back with a red bandana, a mess of red-tinted tears falling from his black eyes.

Black eyes that quickly met with Isaac's. "Kill the spiders!" he instructed gruffly. "Leave Widow to me!"

The newly-dubbed 'Widow' spit out another hail of spiders, making it impossible for Isaac to do anything else besides obey the stranger's orders. He and Magdalene edged their way around the white floor-goo as they tackled the spider army, and by the time the room was clear, Widow had crumbled and died, just like all of the other monsters in this hellish basement.

The brunette who saved the day wiped a layer of sweat from his brow before tightening his headband. "That was close," he panted with a rough snort, trying to clean his face of tears. "Are you two okay?"

Isaac simply nodded. "Thanks for saving us, mister," Maggie said with a curtsey (or as much of one as you could do without actually wearing a skirt).

"Samson," the brunette corrected.

"Oh, nice to meet you, Sam!" Maggie smiled.

"Sam-_son_," the brunette corrected again.

"Anyway, Sam," (Samson failed to correct her a third time) "my name's Magdalene, and this is Isaac. It's so nice to see someone else-" The blonde froze as their hero moved towards the hole in the floor (which Isaac swore was NOT there when they walked in). "Where are you goin'?"

"Down, what's it look like?" Samson growled. "Or did you two not notice the crazy in the polka-dot dress running around with a knife?"

"You, too?" Isaac jumped.

Samson gave another snort. "Please. There's more messed-up stuff down here than you know, kid."

"How many more of you...us are down here?"

"A few. Dunno how many survived."

"What do you MEAN 'don't know how many survived'?" Maggie gasped. "Why haven't you guys tried to stick together or dig out or-"

"HEY!" Samson interrupted loudly, pounding against the wall to further demand attention. "Listen here, blondie - there's a lot of we-don't-even-know-what down in this basement. I ain't got time to babysit some whiny punks like you two, or anyone else for that matter! I'm lookin' out for me, and that's all that matters!"

Before the brunette could storm into the hole, Isaac ran and caught up with him. "Samson, wait! We could help each other! Come on, just let us come with you - we have a better chance if we're together!"

Samson growled, ready to give a very violent "no", but all three froze when another voice rang through the room:

_**IIII~SAAAAC!**_

"Damn, there she is!" Samson jumped instead. With a frustrated scoff, he jumped down to the next floor, but not before answering, "Alright, fine, y'all can come along and help me kill flies and stuff. Just keep up and don't get in my way, got it?"

Samson and Maggie rushed down to the next floor, but Isaac sat back for a second. They were up to _three _now, and if Samson was right, there were even MORE of them. What had gone wrong? God couldn't have wanted all of them dead, could he? Mom wasn't so crazy as to have a child, scare it into the basement, and then just have another, right?

Just what was going on here?

"Isaac, come on!" he heard Maggie call from down below. "We have to keep moving!"

She was right. There was a time to tell the story, but right now, they just needed to survive!

* * *

_Look, Samson's a bad character, so he should get a bad chapter. That's just what he gets. My favorite character premieres next - any guesses? :)  
_

_Thanks to everybody who's been reading and reviewing! Tune in next time, when the story really starts to move and get exciting!  
_

_______**§ Tucker's Mayflower, signing off! §**_


	3. Test Your Luck

_Ho, man, almost forgot to update today. TnT Uh...hello, dungeon-rats! Mayflower here with a brand-new chapter! :D Did you guess right if you took a guess at this week's character? Time to find out! On with the show!_

**LAWYERBOT SAYS: "See? Three chapters in and she's already forgetting to update."  
**The Binding of Isaac, including all related characters, items, and locations (c) Edmund McMillen, because he's awesome.  
Original story of 'the binding of Isaac' (c) Genesis 22, one of the MANY Biblical fun-facts I learned on this journey.**  
**

Please note that the following is simply one take on a novelization of this epic adventure. The game is deep and symbolic, therefore meant to be open to interpretation. Please do not correct my version, merely enjoy it for the experience. :)

* * *

**CHAPTER THREE: Test Your Luck**

Isaac never had many games to play with; it's why he picked up coloring at such an early age. There was no space for video-games, what with his mother always using the television for her Christian broadcasts, and being an only child (...at least, so he THOUGHT), it was difficult to play board games.

That's why stumbling into the arcade was such a pleasant surprise.

It was a warm room, much better-lit than the rest of the floor, which had a cold, cavernous look to it. (Even though they didn't live above any caves...did they?) The walls were lined with game posters, and the room was filled with shiny machines.

The room also held a beggar; the trio had each encountered a few of those thus far, all sitting and waiting for cash, which they had little to share. This one, however, looked a bit bigger than the others. He also had a gold clasp on his ankle, almost like the chain one sees on a lucky rabbit's foot. The beggar also had a small shell game set up, but since none of the three had any proficiency in spotting items under cups, they decided to ignore him for now.

Maggie turned her sights to the big, red slot machine. See, the venture in the arcade had all began when our trio discovered another gold-crown room...except this one was locked, and they had no keys. "I've seen these before!" she assured, dropping a penny into the slot. "Trust me, they give you keys!"

The clanky slots spun. Key. Bomb. Heart. Nothing. "Dang."

"Don't waste yer time, blondie," Samson grumbled, munching on some dog-kibble that they had found on the previous floor. "These machines are rigged. You couldn't win anything out of these if-Ow!"

Walking haphazardly, Samson had bumped into the other big, shiny machine in the room - this one silver, with a big heart sign over the top. When touched, the machine sprung to life, with arms reaching out and holding Samson in place while an oversized needle jabbed him in the arm and drew a sizable amount of blood before all of the contraptions disappeared. It spit out two pennies for his troubles.

"Ow! Garbage blood bank machine!" Samson cursed, rubbing the bloody wound on his arm. "You think you're just gonna jab ME like that and get away with it? Oh, you got another thing comin'!"

While Samson waged war on the blood bank machine, Maggie had run through two more failures on the slot machine. On this try, however, the three symbols finally matched - three flies.

So the machine spit out a fly, which had to be dispatched by Isaac; it flew a little bit faster than Maggie could run. "Man, gambling's not fun at all!" Maggie grumbled.

The beggar behind the shell game gave an annoyed sigh, getting up from his post. "It's because you suck at it."

He put up a finger to shush Maggie's protests, then snatched one of the few pennies from her hand and dropped it into the machine. As the slots spun, the beggar kicked the machine just so in the side, and lo and behold, the machine exploded, raining pennies, nickels, and dimes across the arcade. "See? How hard was that?"

Maggie gave the strange beggar a look; all of the other beggars they had found were silent, and weren't helpful in the slightest if it didn't involve giving them gold. "...You're not one of them, are you?"

The 'beggar' sighed. "Ooh, bright one, are we, Barbie?" he teased, reaching back and putting a black eyepatch over his left eye. Now that he was dressed (somewhat) and fully standing, it was obvious - he wasn't a beggar at all, but one of them. "Alright, ya caught me. Cain's the name, gamblin's my game. Pleasure ta meetcha, Barbie."

Maggie pouted. "It's Maggie."

"Eh, whatever - meet a blonde, ya meet 'em all."

In another corner of the arcade, Isaac found himself quite easily tuning out the brewing spat between Cain and Magdalene. There was yet another machine in this arcade: this one was purple, with gold moons and stars painted across its sides and a shimmery glass ball at its center. Having one penny of his own, Isaac slipped it into the machine's slot, curious to see what emerged. He was always a fan of horoscopes and fortune cookies; it was a nice skip in your step to receive a heartwarming message like "you'll have fantastic luck today!" or "go on an adventure; you'll learn something!"

Similar to the slot machine, the fortune teller shook and rattled, then gave a loud _clank! _as a black message appeared in the heart of its crysal ball:

**BRING HIM THE PHOTO**

"Bring him the photo?" Isaac repeated. "What does that mean?"

"Eh, come off it, kid; those fortune telling machines are garbage," Cain scoffed, approaching young Isaac (and leaving a red-faced Maggie to huff off in his wake). "Everytime I try ta pay one, it just jabbers some nonsense about 'Steven lives'."

xxxxxxx

So Cain decided to join their party. ("You guys would never survive without my help," he sneered. Much to Maggie's chagrin, Isaac and Samson had to agree.) He was a surprisingly-valuable ally. Despite the chains on his foot, which Cain swore up and down was good luck, he was much faster than the three of them. His tears didn't go as far or as fast (though to be fair, the other eye was stuck under that eyepatch), but between the four of them, they made quick work of the caves.

Isaac was also willing to believe Cain's story of the lucky foot; whereas they were scrounging for things on the previous floors, Cain's entrance began a slew of keys, bombs, and other little necessities that helped their journey. (He also volunteered one of his several keys, since his success at the slot machine had cost them their attempt to get one of their own.)

Still, there was one thing Isaac couldn't help but feel tempted to ask. "Hey, Cain?"

"Yeah?"

"You don't have ta tell if you don't wanna, but...w-what happened to yer eye?" He gave a nervous chuckle, hoping to lighten the mood of the potentially-awkward question. "I-I mean, do you like playing pirate, or...?"

Cain gave a soft snicker at Isaac's suggestion. "Not quite, 'Zac, I'm a ninja." ("I'm a princess!" Maggie immediately interrupted, earning her a swift punch in the face via Samson.) "The patch is 'cause I can barely see out of this eye. Really throws off yer shell game, y'know? So I just cover it up."

"So what happened?"

The one-eyed bandit sighed. He spun around, pointing Isaac towards a bruise on the back of his head. It was barely noticable, dulled from age, but with a point in the right direction, you could spot it. "Mom's FIRST attempt on my life was with a two-by-four. Messed up my eye and I get some nasty headaches from time to time, but I lived."

"So the second time, she went for the butcher knife and chased you down here?"

Cain tsked his tongue. "Tried to throttle me with a necklace. But to be fair, I was in her jewelry box." He paused to point out the cuffs on his left leg. "See, the SECOND attempt was with the car; I scrounged out of that, too, but she busted up my foot, so I wanted something shiny to hold it in place."

"Okay, stop!" Isaac suddenly snapped, freezing in place, his knees shaking as they threatened to buckle. "Are you serious? How many times has she DONE this? What else has she tried?"

"Scissors," Samson added in surprisingly calmly, making a stabbing motion towards his throat. "Though lookin' at you two, I'm guessing she's not a fan of long hair on boys." (He had a point; Cain's hair was just as non-existant as Isaac's.) "Face it, Isaac, she's a nut; forget about it."

"No, I can't just forget about it!" Isaac cried. "This is my mom! OUR mom! Something must be wrong with her if she keeps doing this!"

"Something's wrong with her, alright," Cain snickered.

Magdalene, ever the gentle one, grabbed Isaac in a hug. "Look, Isaac, it's hard," she tried to console. "But you have to try and forget about it and keep moving. Look, she can't get you now, right?"

Isaac was about to smile, but a small quake through the caves froze everyone in silence: **I~SAAC! WHERE ARE YOU?**

"Correction, Barbie," Cain jumped in, grabbing her wrist and dragging her ahead (as quickly became protocol; Cain's speed could balance out Maggie's lack thereof). "She can't get us IF we keep moving. Let's go!"

xxxxxxx

Maggots, chargers, knights, hoppers, hives, spities - nothing could stop the unstoppable force of Isaac, Samson, and Cain. (Oh, yeah, and Maggie, too.) Even the monstrosity they dubbed 'Gurdy' and its unstoppable waves of flies and boils could barely stand up to their combined power.

They were so deep in excitement and congratulations that they barely noticed the new door that had appeared, right next to their usual hole down to the next floor. Until they got close enough to see it.

So there they were; all four of them, nervously perched outside the door, trying to peer into the darkness while staying as far from it as possible.

"You go in," Maggie said, pushing Cain a bit closer.

"Me?" Cain, instead, pushed Isaac. "Come on, 'Zac, Mom's looking for _you_ - you go."

"Me?" Isaac, instead, pushed Samson. "Uh, Sam, you're the big and strong one! You go."

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Samson, in retaliation, grabbed all three of them and shoved everybody into the room. "Come on, quit being such babies!"

The room was pitch-black, both in wall-color and lighting. Maggie nearly fainted as they realized there were imprints of skulls across all of the walls and floor. The room was dank and lonely; where did it come from? Why hadn't they found another one up until now?

In the center of this room, there sat a statue of a goat, sitting cross-legged with one hoof pointed to the sky. In front of this lone statue were two items.

The first of the two caused Maggie to burst into tears. It was a black and white cat, or at least the head of said cat. "Guppy!" Amidst her sobs, the blonde ran forward and grabbed the cat-head, despite the warnings (and rantings) on the part of her brothers. She grabbed the cat head and held it close, then nearly dropped it as her body froze.

" 'Ey, Mags, you alright?" Cain asked hesitantly.

"Y-Yeah, I'm f-fine..." Maggie shook. "Just a...j-just a little dizzy, that's all." The one-eyed bandit helped the young blonde to her feet. Even in the dull lighting, you could see she was noticeably paler. Even when she was up, Maggie began to quaver violently the second Cain let her go. Despite her state, she still clung to the head, which seemed to let off flies every time she squeezed it. (The boys noticed later that she also abandoned her Yum Heart. Quite a shame - Isaac still never managed to figure out what it was.)

While Cain escorted Magdalene out, Isaac was busy eyeing the other item. It was a gray book, with an upside-down star scrawled in black upon the cover. It had no title, no other markings. It was just a gray book, sitting alone on a pedestal.

He reached out to pick it up, but Samson gave him a smack and dragged him out of the room. "C'mon, kid, don't mess with that stuff - you saw what it just did ta blondie over there. Let's go, don't go touchin' that stuff and end up like her." He gave a snort as they began their descent to the next floor, realizing the black room offered no other forms of escape. "Last thing this team needs is more dead weight."

Isaac only thought on about the strange book for a short moment longer. He loved to read, but Samson was right - Maggie looked terrible, and the last thing they needed was two down members.

Besides, he'd figure out what that book was one day.

* * *

_Who will we encounter next in these unknown depths below? Tune in next week to find out what happens to our motley crew next time! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing, guys!_

_______**§ Tucker's Mayflower, signing off! §**_


	4. Sea of Sin

_Hello, my darling dungeon-rats! It's that time of week again! Updates abound! And look, this story got a new image! LOOKIT HOW PRETTY IT IS COMPARED TO THE OLD ONE. Anyway, I'll stop my babble (or should I say babel, am I right? ... No, I'm not right). ON WITH THE SHOW!_

**LAWYERBOT SAYS: ...Eh, something clever that insults Christians.  
**The Binding of Isaac, including all related characters, items, and locations (c) Edmund McMillen, because he's awesome.  
Original story of 'the binding of Isaac' (c) Genesis 22, one of the MANY Biblical fun-facts I learned on this journey.**  
**

Please note that the following is simply one take on a novelization of this epic adventure. The game is deep and symbolic, therefore meant to be open to interpretation. Please do not correct my version, merely enjoy it for the experience. :)

* * *

**CHAPTER FOUR: Sea of Sin**

The shops were a unique quirk of this adventure. In the earlier areas, Isaac and Maggie were unable to access them, as each one was hidden behind a heavy locked door. With Cain's help, though, they could now access these areas. Each shop was watched by a strange keeper, most with ropes around their necks and maggots in their empty eye-sockets. ("Trust me, they're only playing dead," Cain warned. "It's how they catch thieves.")

The items were presented in a neat row, all with little pieces of cardboard with the price scribbed on. The prices seemed to be the same from area to area - cards and keys and bombs for five cents, special items like ladders and purses for fifteen. (Sometimes they were even on sale!)

The shops were nice places, so Isaac didn't think to have any trepidation about using one of his keys to peek inside. Once the others heard the door open, they rushed over to tag along.

Isaac was the first to step inside. Strange - why wasn't there a shopkeeper inside? "Hello? Anybody home?"

Cain and Samson recognized something was amiss, dragging the lady away from the door. "Isaac, look out, it's a-"

_THUNK! _"I really hope he wasn't going to say 'trap'," Isaac cringed, watching the door shut behind him.

_"...I...sssssss...aac..."_

Nervously, Isaac spun on his heel and turned to face the hissing noise. One of the shopkeepers was lowering down from the ceiling via the rope arounds its neck, just before dropping down and crawling its way towards the young refugee.

"U-Uhm...h-hi, mister shopkeep," Isaac waved. "S-sorry I don't have tons of money, but, uh...i-if you could maybe open the door and let my friends in, I'd really-ack!"

Isaac stumbled as the shopkeep lunged after him, and wasn't able to escape before the keeper pinned him against the wall. The monster gave another hiss, tearing at Isaac and knocking all of his pennies loose. The refugee tried to scramble for his spilt coins, but every time he looked away, the hungry shopkeep struck again, spilling them once more.

Once the refuge managed to pull away, the shopkeep gave a wrenching cough, spitting blood across the room like so many of the monsters were prone to do. He ducked and weaved through the grotesque projectiles, only to find himself face-to-face with his attacker once again, which sent another rain of coins onto the floor.

Finally, Isaac managed to wrestle himself away. "Stop it! What do you want?"

The keeper gave a throaty chuckle. "_Onnnneeee...of ussssss..._" it hissed.

"One of you? What do you mean?"

"_Onneee of usssss!_" it shrieked again, raising its stumpy arms to the sky. In two large puffs of smoke, a pair of hoppers appeared - headless bodies that convulsed and jumped blindly across the room. "_Sssssevennn ssssinnnsss...Isssssssaaac ssssinnnns!_"

The keeper was laughing hysterically as Isaac just barely dispatched his hoppers. "One of us, seven sins, Issac sins", over and over and over again.

Isaac could barely stand, what with his fear and panic mixing with the crippling pain of the slashes from losing all of his coin. "I'm not one of you!" he cried. "I'm not a sinner! I'm not! I'm not, I'm not, I'm NOT!"

_Poof! Cling-cling-cling-cling-clink! THUNK!_

All at once, the evil keeper vanished, leaving a shower of coins in its wake - between those and the coins Isaac had lost, the entire floor was coated in shiny pennies and nickels. Once the room was clear, the door slid open once more, allowing Samson and Maggie to rush in and tend to Isaac (while Cain detoured to pick up some of the coins).

"Isaac, are you okay?" Maggie called, kneeling to Isaac's side.

Isaac couldn't answer immediately. Even though the monster had gone, his hisses still rang through Isaac's mind. One of us. Seven sins. Isaac sins.

_First Mom, now the shopkeepers._

"I'm not a sinner. I'm not a bad person." Deciding not to make things worse, Samson and Maggie stayed quiet.

Cain, having cleared the room's gold, came over and pulled Isaac back onto his feet. "Hey, you're fine - a little banged-up, but you're fine."

"Cain, what WAS that thing?" Isaac had to ask, realizing that Cain knew the caves a bit better than the rest of them.

The one-eyed bandit scoffed. "Just some greedy bastard. They're everywhere, and they're major pains. Forget about it - if you make it out alive, just take it and run."

* * *

_Come on, admit it - you were all expecting this to be Judas, right? Tsk-tsk, dungeon-rats, you should know better than that. Come on, this is the Binding of Isaac. XD Anyway, now we shouldn't fight Greed in the next shop, so tune in next time and see what tries to kill Isaac and friends in our next installment! Thanks for reading and reviewing!_

_________**§ Tucker's Mayflower, signing off! §**_


	5. The Black Mass

_Hello, my little dungeon-rats! Mayflower here, and it's that time of the week again! You guys have no idea how much I'm enjoying this constant update thing, seriously. XD I hope you guys are enjoying it, too! Anyway, I've got a lot of work to get done (and by work, I mean the untouchable glory of obtaining Dark Boy and ascending to the status of Platinum God), so let's forego the ramble: on with the show!  
_

**LAWYERBOT SAYS: "Seriously, you guys should watch her try for Dark Boy. It's pretty hilarious."  
**The Binding of Isaac, including all related characters, items, and locations (c) Edmund McMillen, because he's awesome.  
Original story of 'the binding of Isaac' (c) Genesis 22, one of the MANY Biblical fun-facts I learned on this journey.**  
**

Please note that the following is simply one take on a novelization of this epic adventure. The game is deep and symbolic, therefore meant to be open to interpretation. Please do not correct my version, merely enjoy it for the experience. :)

* * *

**CHAPTER FIVE: The Black Mass**

It was official - they were no longer in the basement.

Isaac was starting to question whether or not they were still in the NEIGHBORHOOD. These floors were getting larger and larger, way bigger than the house on the hill had ever been. It was also dark, and only getting darker and colder as time went on. Their current floor was paved with gray, and so damp it nearly made Magdalene's curls lie flat.

It was also getting more difficult - even the boys (and Maggie, kind of) combined were beginning to struggle. Hoppers and leapers were constantly dropping from the skies, while Globins and Mr. Maws jumped out from behind every corner. There were giant masks that could only be destroyed by attacking their hearts, more of those evil shop-keepers (though not as vocal or dangerous as the one Isaac had just encountered), and EVERYTHING seemed to explode in smoggy green bombs.

You can imagine the much-needed respite that was provided by the arcade on this floor. While Maggie seemed determined to best Cain and take revenge with the slot machine, Samson stayed outside to avoid a repeat encounter with the blood bank, and Cain decided to swindle the beggar at his own skull game, Isaac found himself pulled towards the fortune teller once again. Its last cryptic message still floated through his mind, though he still had no explanation for it. _Bring him the photo. _Mom had lots of photos (although they were all upstairs, which was unreachable at the moment). Which photo did he want? Who was _he, _anyway?

Between the cryptic message and his own crippling self-doubt, all thanks to the taunts of the shopkeep, Isaac needed answers. And this shiny purple machine was his only chance of getting them.

He put the coin in the slot. _Cli-click! _As before, it gave a shudder, but where Isaac was expecting the _THUNK! _that accompanied a fortune, this time he was met with an explosion. _Well, so much for that._

Before he turned away, he caught a glimpse of something poking out of the debris. He couldn't be sure what it was, but only one way to find out, right? Cautiously lowering to his hands and knees, Isaac crawled through the shards of glass and metal and filtered through the ash until he found his prize.

Cain, who had already forced the beggar to storm out in anger, heard the explosion and wandered over. "Whoa, Isaac, what'd you do, man?" He smirked, ever the cocky one. "I thought I was the only one who knew how to blow the goods outta these things."

Isaac tuned out his brother's ego, brushing off the piece of picture-paper in his hands. It was a small Polaroid picture - one that depicted himself and his parents. How long had they been running down here? Days? Weeks? Looking at his mother and how happy she looked, it seemed like an eternity ago since he'd seen that smiling face. (_Wow, Maggie looks just like her_, he realized thoughtfully. Samson, on the other hand, was a spitting image of their father. Cain and Isaac were somewhere in the middle.)

The refugee looked up when he felt breath on his shoulder, finding Cain overlooking. "Mom and Dad?"

Isaac nodded. "But what's this doin' down here?"

"These fortune-tellers are weird, man," Cain shrugged, looking at a large piece of glass that was uncomfortably close to his hand. "Whatever, it's just a picture, leave it alone and let's get out of here."

Still, Isaac couldn't just abandon it. This picture was _sanity, _the memory of a time when he had both parents and his mother wasn't trying to sacrifice him, back when they were a happy family.

He couldn't just leave it. _Besides, now I have the photo - I just have to figure out who I bring it to._

xxxxxxx_  
_

Samson loved gauntlet rooms. They were everywhere in these dungeons, and he always jumped at the chance to rush into one. There were amazing treasures hidden inside, but they were booby-trapped like an old Indiana Jones movie: if you picked up the treasure, you'd be attacked by wave after wave of monsters.

Half of the time, Samson didn't even want the treasure. He just loved the rush of the fight.

That's why he was particularly frustrated when they found one that was closed. "Come on, just let me in!" Samson snapped, trying to tear open the bars of the door with brute force. As you can imagine, they didn't budge.

"Sam, it's closed," Cain tsked. "Can we go now?"

"Come on, Sam, the stuff in there'll eat you!" Maggie added nervously.

Samson growled. He had long-since gave up on correcting his nickname (and was even starting to get used to it), but this gauntlet room would not escape him. "No, not 'til I figure out how to get in there!"

Isaac, ever the perceptive one, noticed the shred of red and gold trapped in the bars. "Uh...guys?" Once holding everyone's attention, Isaac reached down and pulled out the fabric - it was a fez, made of red velvet with a golden tassel. "What monsters wear hats?"

No one could provide the answer.

Before they could contemplate what it meant, the doors flung open, knocking Samson aside. The room was dark and the smell of blood and death shot out from within. Isaac, the one standing close enough to the door (as Maggie was scared off and Cain had to chase her down), could hear the throaty growling from within.

He caught a faint glimpse of some kind of monster. It was their size, but with bloody black holes for eyes. There was a faint flash of red, and Isaac cringed as he heard the shopkeeper's hiss again: _one of us, seven sins, Isaac sins. _He felt his knees threaten to buckle as darkness temporarily overtook his sight, and he was bombarded with visions of black demons with beady red eyes.

_You're one of us, Isaac. Join us._

"No, stop!" Isaac cried, clinging to the red accessory in his arms.

"Please don't do that to my hat."

"Huh?" Isaac looked up. He gave a shudder as that red-eyed demon appeared for a half-second, but once his vision returned to normal, he saw it wasn't a demon or a monster at all. It was another escapee, just like himself and the others he had found. And he looked just like Isaac - tired-eyed and paler-skinned, but an exact replica otherwise.

Except that his arms were crossed and he was wearing a frustrated pout. Once they locked eyes, he uncrossed his arms and held one of them out.

Isaac stared at the outreached hand confusedly. "My hat," the new one repeated.

The refugee stared back and forth between the hand and the red hat in his arms. "Huh? Oh! Hat, right." Isaac carefully returned the accessory, which the new boy quickly smoothed out before putting it back on his head, making sure the tassel sat just so.

"How long have you been down here?" The fezzed one simply spun on his heels and walked off. "Hey, wait!"

Trying to keep pace, Isaac stumbled to come up with other questions: "What are you doing here?" "Is Mom chasing you, too?" "What were you doing in the gauntlet room?" "Where'd you get that hat?"

The stranger kept silent. Isaac sighed. "...I'm Isaac. What's your name?"

"Judas." It was short, but at least it was an answer.

The two walked in silence for a distance longer. Finally, Judas began the conversation. "Why are you following me?"

"You should come along with us," Isaac said, forcing as pleasant of a smile as he could.

"No."

"Why not?"

"I work alone."

"You don't talk very much, do you?" Isaac asked, noting the restrained responses. Judas didn't even respond, other than a simple shake of his head.

The hatless one gave a sharp sigh. How was he supposed to convince someone who didn't even want to TALK to him to come running with them?

Luckily, Isaac didn't have to come up with anything. Maggie did it for him. "**SOMEONE HELP!**"

Isaac's ears perked, recognizing the blonde's cry. "Oh, no, Maggie! They must be in trouble!"

He began to run back, but stopped when he noticed Judas wasn't following. "Aren't you going to come? The others need help!"

Once again, Judas remained quiet. "Alright, fine! But you're not going to make it on your own, y'know!" Isaac had bigger concerns than dealing with Judas. Namely, whatever was attacking Maggie.

xxxxxxx

"Isaac, look out!"

Isaac barely rolled out of the way of the onslaught of purple bullets that headed his way. Their current attacker was a large green monster with ruffles of black hair, its jaw hung open as it stumbled around the room. Its counterpart was a small, white creature, with black hair and large horn-rimmed glasses, that could pop in and out of the room as it pleased, emitting a ghastly shriek as it did so.

The refugee barely had time to process what they were fighting. "What are these things?"

"Don't know, don't care!" Samson bluntly answered from his hiding place on the other side of the room. "Help us kill it, we'll ask questions later!"

Typical Samson answer. But once the two new enemies locked their sights on Isaac, the refugee was unable to fight back. The large, green one spit a line of acid, which made dodging around his partner's purple bullets difficult to dodge. (Wait, were the bullets following him? Ow, yeah, definitely following him.)

"What do you guys want?" Isaac had to ask, holding up his arm to protect his eyes from the acid-splashes. "Why are you attacking us?"

The green monster chuckled deeply. "One of us, Isaac!" it bellowed. "One of us!"

"Pride, envy, wrath, sloth, gluttony, lust, greed!" the smaller one prattled off before vanishing again. "Seven sins, seven sins! Seven sins, Isaac sins!"

Isaac buckled. Not again! "No, stop saying that!"

_Senior atrum, vindico salus..._

_Senior atrum, vindico ruina..._

"One of us, Isaac! One of us!"

"No, I'm not! Stop saying that!"

_Nos parco, nos attero..._

_Vallo animus, edo animus..._

"Seven sins, seven sins! Seven sins, Isaac sins!"

"I'm not a sinner! Please, just stop!"

_Pro macies est regnum, vox, et palma..._

_Semper quod umquam._

A wave of darkness overtook the room. The new monstrosities wailed out in pain as blood quickly splattered the walls, crumpling like all of the enemies before them. The same air of blood and death they all felt upon opening the gauntlet room had returned.

Shaken, Isaac looked down at his feet as he braced himself against a wall. A puddle of blood now sat at his feet. As he looked into it, his reflection showed something other than himself - something with black skin and red eyes.

Horrified, he looked away, but when he looked up, he saw the creature from the gauntlet room again - the one with the bloody black holes for eyes. Again, Isaac felt the blackness take over his vision, and despite his begs to be left alone, that same hissing voice beckoned to him again.

_Admit the truth, Isaac. You know what happened._

* * *

_LATIN TRANSLATION: "Dark Lord, deliver salvation. Dark Lord, deliver destruction. Spare us, destroy us. Protect my soul, devour my soul. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever."  
_

_What are the secrets of the Seven Sins? Will Isaac and friends survive the unstoppable destruction of Necropolis I? What's the story of the demon that haunts the boy in the red hat? Do they have what it takes to escape this floor and defeat Mom? Or is a tick going to show up and ruin everybody's day because nobody bought the purse?_

_All of those questions and more, answered next time on_ Unknown Depths Below! _Keep tuning in, and thank you guys SO much for all of the love and support through reading, faving, and reviewing!__  
_

_______**§ Tucker's Mayflower, signing off! §**_


	6. Son of Abraham

_Hello, my little dungeon-rats! It's that time of week again! Yes, time to dive into the dungeons and get back to Isaac's thrilling adventure! Because I have nothing better to do in my frustrated disability to accomplish Dark Boy! :D Whoo! So enough rambling, on with the show!_

**LAWYERBOT SAYS: "Wow, someone's bitter about this Dark Boy thing."  
**The Binding of Isaac, including all related characters, items, and locations (c) Edmund McMillen, because he's awesome.  
Original story of 'the binding of Isaac' (c) Genesis 22, one of the MANY Biblical fun-facts I learned on this journey.**  
**

Please note that the following is simply one take on a novelization of this epic adventure. The game is deep and symbolic, therefore meant to be open to interpretation. Please do not correct my version, merely enjoy it for the experience. :)

* * *

**CHAPTER SIX: Son of Abraham**

"Isaac? Are you okay?"

Isaac gave a groan as he slowly came to. Light had returned to the world (or as much as there could be, stuck this far underground), and he found Maggie looking over him worriedly, still clinging to the cat-head she had panickedly picked up earlier.

He sat up as opposed to answer, rubbing the stiff ache in the back of his head. He was alive and the voices had quieted - that was a good sign, right?

"Wha' happ'n?" Isaac's words slurred on their way out, but he got the point across.

"You blacked out, bro," Cain explained, sitting a few steps away. "Soon as we cleared out that thing, you screamed some nonsense about knowing the truth and being a sinner, then just fell over. What was that all about, seriously?"

"Dunno, don't remember it," he lied, trying to push the thoughts as far away as he could. He rubbed his eyes, trying to regain coherent thought before questioning the group further. Memory returned to the point of recalling the thing with the black eyes. "That thing. With the black eyes. Did it...?"

"That was me." Isaac looked over, finding Judas curled against a wall, shaking slightly but not much worse for wear. Once again, his eyes were normal (if not a bit bloodshot and tired). Why did he only look so scary in the dark?

"Judas?" Isaac was honestly floored that the red-hatted stranger had not only returned, but saved their lives. "How'd you...?"

Judas replied by holding out a book. He had been holding it the whole time, Isaac retroactively noticed, but didn't take in the details 'til just now. It was a gray book, with an upside-down star scrawled in black upon the cover. It had no title, no other markings. It was just a gray book...

...That Isaac potently remembered seeing on a pedastal in a scary, black room.

"We'd better get moving," Judas said, holding the book tight against his chest again as he moved out of the room.

"Wait, why're you in such a hurry?" Maggie called after.

The room shook violently. _**IIII-SAAAAAAC! **_And it sounded closer than ever.

"That's why."

Isaac ran to catch up to his hatted twin. "Does this mean you're with us now?"

"You need me," Judas answered flatly, giving Isaac a suspicious lookover. "And you know something. I'm going to find out what it is."

...Not the most confidence-inspiring, but a friend's a friend, right?

xxxxxxxx

Isaac's mother had taught him what to do if someone pulled a knife on him. Being the helicopter mom she was, it was her duty to make sure her only son was protected from anything and everything.

As he looked up at the blade in his mother's hand, he REALLY wished he could remember that self-defense lesson.

The blonde attacker cackled, stamping her fat-laden leg down in hopes of crushing her child. "Hold still, Isaac! Mommy needs you!"

Isaac stumbled behind a set of rocks, where the others were already hid. "Any bright ideas, Patch?" Maggie asked, looking at her one-eyed brother. "YOU'RE the smart one, after all!"

"Yeah, here's an idea," Cain growled. "We throw YOU out and let her kill you instead!"

"THERE YOU ARE! GOTCHA!"

The kids barely had time to dodge as their mother's hand crashed down, nearly crumbling them underneath it. The walls spat blood as clotties and pacers poured out from the doors, all ready to hunt them down.

"Here's a better idea!" Samson snapped, shoving everyone back into the center of the room before dispatching the monsters. "Quit yer bickering and stay away from the doors!"

Their mother cackled overhead, her foot coming down once again. (Maggie gave out a shriek as a lock of her hair was trapped underneath Mom's bright-red heel, only to be yanked out as Cain and Isaac pulled her to her feet.) "Come on out, Isaac! Mommy wants to play!"

"Hey, Fez, where's your magic book now?" Cain sneered. Judas, ever the stoic silent, only flashed his half-blind brother a scowl before rushing off to deal with the enemies.

"At least Judas is TRYING!" Maggie shrieked.

"Ex-CUSE me, Barbie?!"

"Guys!" Isaac snapped, jumping between them. "This is REALLY not the time for-"

_BOOM._

In an explosion of rock and screams and blurs of motion, Isaac found himself face-to-face with his mother. The others were gone. Did she drag Isaac into another room? Did they all get crushed? He found it difficult to look for them with her shining blade over his head. He was backed against a wall, and she offered no room to run.

Isaac was cornered.

His mother, fueled with the desire to serve her god, was bearing down on him. "I will do as I'm told, my Lord!" she muttered to herself, cackling the phrase over and over again. "I love you above all else!"

Isaac could see his own panic reflected in his mother's big, dark eyes. Strange how they shared the same eyes; the big, brown eyes that all of them shared, yet Maggie's soft curl of blonde hair. (Though Isaac's mother was sporting less curl and more psychotic bedhead at the moment.)

This was the end of the line. There was no denying it: his mother was just far too strong. Isaac fell to the ground, tears rolling off his face as he accepted his fate.

_Halt! Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him! Thou shalt not withhold thy only son!_

There was a crack of white light, bright enough to re-awaken Isaac's headache and force him to hide his face. There was a loud _THUMP!, _right before the light subsided. But before Isaac could open his eyes, he heard another voice - this one sweeter than the one he had been hearing as of recent.

_You have been spared, son of Abraham. Rest now, sweet child of sacrifice - your torment has ended. Fear not your mother's wrath, for you are safe within the arms and eyes of the Lord._

He opened his eyes to find his mother, lying unconscious on the bloody floor. And just like that, it was over.

* * *

_Genesis 22:12. :) Man, that DOES feel powerful, doesn't it? That's why Christians quote the Bible so much - feels good, brah. Anyway, Isaac's mother has finally been defeated! Everybody laugh at all of the newbies when the look of horror appears on their faces as they realize this isn't the final boss! Where will Isaac and friends go now? Do they have enough health to conquer the remaining floors? You know when and where to find out - next time on _Unknown Depths Below!

_______**§ Tucker's Mayflower, signing off! §**_


	7. Bleeding Hearts

_Hello, my little dungeon-rats! Man, would you believe I totally forgot today was Wednesday? Ugh, I hate my update schedule. x.x As soon as this story wraps up, I'm changing the day I update! Do you guys have any suggestions? ;)_

_...No? You'd rather I just quit talking and let you get to the story, 'cause that's why you're here? Oh, okay...Alright, on with the show!  
_

**LAWYERBOT SAYS: "Gee, I wonder why she's stalling. [/sarcasm]"  
**The Binding of Isaac, including all related characters, items, and locations (c) Edmund McMillen, because he's awesome.  
Original story of 'the binding of Isaac' (c) Genesis 22, one of the MANY Biblical fun-facts I learned on this journey.**  
**

Please note that the following is simply one take on a novelization of this epic adventure. The game is deep and symbolic, therefore meant to be open to interpretation. Please do not correct my version, merely enjoy it for the experience. :)

* * *

**CHAPTER SEVEN: Bleeding Hearts**

Eventually, Isaac returned to his siblings. Maggie was the first to find him, grabbing him in a spine-breaking hug. "Oh, Isaac, we were so worried about you! We really thought she had you for a second! Oh, man, are you okay? Did she stab you? Are you hurt? Are you bleeding?"

"Oi, blondie!" Samson growled, dragging her away. "Let the boy breathe, would ya?!"

"Sorry," Magdalene apologized meekly, hiding behind her curls.

"I'm fine," Isaac replied. He took a slow breath, still unable to process the words he was about to utter. "...I think Mom's dead."

There was a unified gasp. "You're kidding!" Maggie gawked.

Isaac shook his head. "Aw, yeah, finally pulled one over on 'er!" Cain cheered. Before noticing everyone else's lack of excitement. "...What, too soon or somethin'?"

"Far too soon," Judas corrected. Everyone shook out of their shock to turn in his direction. He pointed to where their mother's body once lay. "I don't think we're done yet."

Their fallen attacker was no more; instead, they found another hole, leading down even FURTHER into this labyrinth.

"Oh, no!" Maggie protested. "I'm not jumping into any more holes! Nuh-uh, I'm done! There's GOT to be another way out of here!"

"Have you seen one yet?" Samson asked. "'Cause I haven't."

"Come on, Mags!" Cain argued. "Look, she's not there anymore! CLEARLY, we're not done with this! If we don't take care of her now, how long until she pops out ANOTHER one of us and starts the whole thing over again?!"

As Cain and Maggie began their near-mandatory bickering, Judas turned to Isaac. "What do you think?"

The original refugee thought long and hard, eyes fixated on the hole, which seemed to ooze blood from every angle. On the one hand, he could feel that warm light and comforting voice, reassuring that he was safe. Nothing could hurt him. It was over, he had won.

On the other hand, his original voice had returned - the hissing one that only appeared in the dark. _Think of what she's done...You have won...but you haven't AVENGED..._

"We have to finish this." Isaac could feel the words slip past his lips, yet put no conscious thought into uttering them. Still, the words spoke true. He was doing this for himself, but also for Maggie, for Samson, for Cain, for Judas. For all of the brothers and sisters he'd never met, and for any that might've come after.

So he was the first to splash through the puddles of blood and drop down once again.

xxxxxxx

"ISAAC, THIS WAS A HORRIBLE IDEA! NEXT TIME, WE STAY PUT WHERE IT'S SAFE!"

The next level was significantly harder than the last. The enemies were stronger, faster, and hit much harder. The area was discomforting, too - the ground was slick and squishy, and all of the walls were a bright, bloody red. (Cain made the gross joke that it felt like returning to the womb. Maggie promptly slapped him, making sure to dizzy him in the good eye.)

Currently, the blonde was having another fit, running (and the boys used the term "running" quite loosely) from a pair of leeches that had locked onto her scent and were not about to let go. If the boys weren't locked up with a herd of parabites, they'd be helping her, but you need to prioritize.

Once the room was clear, the set of five promptly crashed to the slimy ground to catch their breath. None of them had been expecting so much trouble, especially considering their relative ease up until now.

"We have the worst mom ever," Cain panted.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Judas scoffed with a roll of his eyes.

The first to catch his breath, Isaac hopped to his feet. "Come on, guys, we have to finish this. How much harder could it get?"

xxxxxxx

Oh, it could get so much harder.

The heart itself was a horrifying sight. It was larger than any of them, dangling from the ceiling via hundreds of veins and arteries, which seemed to be pumping in blood from the walls and the floor above. It shook the room whenever it beat, raining blood down upon them and occasionally dropping enemies. Granted, these enemies were simple by comparison to the monster rooms they faced outside, but with everything combined, it made for a messy battle.

Isaac could barely bring himself to attack it. Every time they struck, it gave a quiver, then shouted, "**III-SAAAC!**"in the same blood-thirsty screech his mother was using earlier. Was she still alive? Was she living through this? Is this what had to be done to exact his revenge?

...Why was he so worried about revenge?

"ISAAC, LOOK OUT!"

Isaac didn't look out, and took a huge globule of blood and who-knows-what-else to the face, knocking him back and blinding him. "Ow! Dang it!"

Stumbling, Isaac scrambled to clean his face so he could see what was going on. Once he could open his eyes, he found himself face-to-face with the heart.

...Except it wasn't the heart at all. (It was, but not what had his attention.) There was a creature within the heart, as if trapped inside it. Suddenly ignoring all of the chaos around him, Isaac reached out his hand, attempting to touch it.

It came closer to the edge, close enough for Isaac to see. It looked to be about his size, with dead-looking eyes and bluish skin that looked purple through the red haze of the heart. Isaac touched the surface, and the creature did the same on its side.

_The treacheries of the womb fell away. In that moment, time itself seemed to freeze. It was nothing but darkness - a hot, suffocating darkness that ached Isaac's chest and forced the refugee to claw for his breath._

_It was you!_

_You know the truth!_

_Stop lying!_

_You're throwing your life away!_

_Wake up!_

_You are worshiping a sun god!_

_Escape the illusion!_

_Save me!_

_Save yourself!_

_Destroy the future! Save the past!_

_Dark shadows began to surround him, filling the stuffy air with hungry growls and dark laughs. Isaac looked up to where he had seen the blue baby, but in his place hid a black demon, faceless except for those burning red eyes that he could not escape. Isaac couldn't pull away, couldn't avoid the creature as it crawled closer and closer, couldn't escape when it drilled a rusty nail into his arm..._

"Aaah!" In a panic, Isaac wrenched his hand away, just in time for the heart to shrivel and melt before his eyes. Blood splattered everywhere (which he had become uncomfortably-used to), but Isaac could only focus on the red handprint that ran along his palm and fingers.

What was THAT all about?!

"'Zac, you NEED to stop zoning out like that, man," Cain shouted, snapping Isaac back to reality.

"Sorry, sorry." He could see the red-hatted one giving him an odd look from across the room. Judas said he was suspicious - that Isaac knew the truth, and he was going to find out for himself.

But how could Isaac explain something he couldn't even understand?

* * *

_Man, you guys have no idea how excited I am to get this chapter out of the way. XD NEXT TIME, Isaac and friends enter endgame territory as they're finally approached by the long-awaited and much-suggested...well, if I have to spoil it at this point, I don't think you guys are paying attention. Will Isaac and friends survive as they descend further into pain, torture and madness? You know there's only one way to find out! By tuning in next time to _Unknown Depths Below!

_By the way, thank you guys SO much for reading and supporting the story. I just crossed a thousand views the other day, which I think is FANTASTIC for a little board that only has nine stories on it. This section's really come to life since it came to life in the winter; here's to a bigger and brighter future from here! :)_

_____**§ Tucker's Mayflower, signing off! §**_


	8. Sacrificial Lamb

_[le me listening to le iPod] Man, there was something I was supposed to do today, wasn't there? It's still summer, so there's no homework due...And all of my beta-reads are done..._

_[$4cR1f1c14|_ begins playing on le iTunes] Oh, right! Wednesday, duh. XD  
_

_...I dunno, I don't have any rambles today, but that's the story of my faulty memory that brings you this chapter. So screw it, ON WITH THE SHOW!  
_

**LAWYERBOT SAYS: "I'm still waiting for that day when she forgets and misses an update."  
**The Binding of Isaac, including all related characters, items, and locations (c) Edmund McMillen, because he's awesome.  
Original story of 'the binding of Isaac' (c) Genesis 22, one of the MANY Biblical fun-facts I learned on this journey.**  
**

Please note that the following is simply one take on a novelization of this epic adventure. The game is deep and symbolic, therefore meant to be open to interpretation. Please do not correct my version, merely enjoy it for the experience. :)

* * *

**CHAPTER EIGHT: Sacrificial Lamb**

A familiar scene lay before our heroes - a lonely black door, and five refugees, nervously perched outside of it, trying to peer into the darkness while staying as far from it as possible. (Well, four were avoiding it. Judas was right at the entrance, trying to make out what was inside without entering.)

"You go in," Maggie said, pushing Cain a bit closer.

"Me?" Cain, instead, pushed Isaac. "Hey, Mr. "We need to finish this!", why don't you check it out?"

"Me?!" Isaac, instead, pushed Samson. "Uh, Sam, you're the big and strong one! You go."

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, WE'RE NOT DOING THIS AGAIN!" Samson, in retaliation, grabbed all three of them and shoved everybody towards the door. "Come on, quit being such babies!"

"Guys, no, wait," Judas said. "I think this might be a-"

Ever the wise and patient, Samson completely ignored Judas and hurled everybody inside. There was no floor, so all of them went plummeting downwards once more.

When they finally reached the bottom (in the most painful way possible), Judas was the first to sit up. "Trap," he finished with a groan.

There was a light giggle in the background. "Nice landing."

The heroes looked up. Peeking from around the corner was yet another of their kind - this one another girl, with short black hair that hung in front of her face, and black smears under her eyes. (There was also a dead bird sitting on her head, but nobody dared to ask about it.)

The group looked amongst themselves, silently agreeing that only one person could welcome a girl to their ranks. "Hi there!" Maggie waved, beckoning her closer. "What're you doin' down here?"

"I heard you guys would be coming," she answered shyly. She locked onto Isaac almost immediately. "You're Isaac, right?"

"Yeah...What's your name?"

The girl smiled, brushing away her bangs. "Eve."

Isaac frowned a bit. Magdalene, Samson, Cain, Judas, and now Eve. All characters from the Bible...and none of the glamorous ones, either. "Is it just me, or is Mom terrible at names?"

Cain turned and gave Isaac a confused look with his functioning eye. "Yeah, duh. Did you not get to the one you're named after or something?"

"...Which one am I named after?"

"...Don't worry about it."

"Hey, you guys are looking for a way out of here, right?" Eve turned, motioning to her door. "Come on, I know the way - let's go!"

It seemed shady, but at the same time, there was nothing else they could do, right? What's the worst that could happen?

xxxxxxx

Their group turned quickly into a line, with Cain and Samson watching Maggie in the back, and Isaac and Judas keeping pace with their leader, Eve. "How do you know this place so well?" Isaac asked, noting all of the frightening rooms that they were just slipping past with Eve's help.

"I live here," she replied quietly.

Judas continued shooting her the venomous look that he put on when she first appeared. "So what is this place?"

Eve waited until they passed into another room before she answered. Like the last evil door they passed through, this one was black and lined with skulls, inhabited by only the black goat statue.

"This is Sheol," she finally replied.

Judas threw out a hand, stopping Isaac from following further. "I knew it! You're not trying to help us out of here! This is a trick!"

Isaac gave the red-hat a confused look. "Judas, what're you talking about?"

"She's not one of us, Isaac," Judas explained. "She's a shade. I was wondering why this place felt so familiar, and now I know - it's the kingdom of Sheol, the congregation of the dead."

The black-haired one gave a cackle, a dark light sparking in her eyes. "Very clever, Judas!" She eyed the book held tightly in Judas' grasp. "I see you've been studying that book we gave you."

Isaac took a nervous step back. "You got that book from here, I knew it! Judas, these rooms are bad news! Didn't you-well, okay, you didn't see what it did to Maggie, but didn't you-?"

"I did what I had to do, okay?!" Judas snapped, holding the book close. "I-I...What else was I supposed to do? I needed help!" With a shy wince, he turned his head. "Look, you were right. I couldn't do it by myself."

"And now you've repaid the favor by bringing little Isaac right to our doorstep," Eve giggled.

Isaac could barely keep track of which way was up anymore. "Wait, what?!"

Eve stepped between them before Judas could defend himself. "If he was suspicious, he could've said something earlier, don't you think? But no, he led you right to us!"

She put an arm around his shoulder, spinning him around. "Now look at where you've landed."

The wall behind them had vanished, revealing Cain, Samson, and Maggie trapped in the other room. They were battling against an all-black demon, with bright red eyes, pointed horns, and a pair of ruffled wings. Currently, it was speeding after Cain (luckily; if it were chasing Maggie, she'd be a goner), but after realizing it couldn't catch the bandit, it froze and unleashed a fury of bloody bursts, one aimed at each wall.

"Oh, no!" Isaac gasped. "Hold on, guys, I'm coming!"

...Or so he thought. The wall returned as he went to move past it, just in time for Isaac to see the demon peel itself in half, splitting into two smaller versions of itself, which both decided to hone in on the timid blonde. Then the room returned to darkness.

"No, you have to let me out of here!" Isaac cried, pounding on the wall. "I have to help them!"

"You can't help anybody but yourself, Isaac," Eve argued calmly. "Why fight it? We could let you out to be killed, or you could just...stay here."

Isaac turned slowly to re-face the noirette. Now that Judas had exposed her, there was definitely an aura of darkness about her. (Not to mention the dead bird still sitting on her head.) "What do you mean?"

"That's why I brought you here, silly," she giggled. "Daddy wants you to live here with us. You can be my big brother and everything!"

"N-No, I really-"

"Come on, Isaac, isn't that why you're here in the first place? Because YOUR family didn't want you anymore?"

"Hey, that's not-!"

"Face it, Isaac," the noirette interrupted, pulling Isaac to his feet and nearly pressing her nose to his. "Join us. You're one of us."

One of us, one of us, one of us - the phrase had been burned into Isaac's skull by now. The shopkeep, the green and white demons, the voice in the dark, and now Eve. Was there no escaping it? It wasn't even true!...was it?

...No. Isaac decided it most certainly was not. "For the last time, I'm not one of you," he growled. "And I'm NOT going to BE one of you!"

He shoved the noirette down (immediately regretting it - his mother taught him to never strike a girl, after all). Before he could even move to apologize, though, she started laughing, despite the scrapes that now covered her from the harsh fall.

She stood up, briefly showing Isaac the palm of her hand. It was marked with a black star and moon. "So that's how we play, is it?" She cackled even louder as a dark smog filled the room, slowly surrounding her, obscuring her from view...

Until a pair of bright red eyes shone through the shadows. "Well, it's a horrible night to have a curse, Isaac. At least for you."

xxxxxxx

Judas was a bit too preoccupied to notice the battle happening. Hidden behind the safety of a rock to consult his book, the red-hat was frantically searching for something - ANYTHING - to help them escape. The Book of Belial was known for its rites of destruction; that's what had lured him to the book in the first place. However, the longer he held it and read through it, he found something else inside - rites of compassion, of self-help and longevity.

For once, he wasn't looking to destroy; he was looking to save.

The problem was he was less familiar with those pages, so they took a bit longer to find. "Oh, come on, there's got to be something...uh..._Addo vox, addo pondera! Patefacio atrum, _and...sorry, _et solvo verum!...Nos recubo e sheol..._Wait, lie in Sheol? How did it...whatever, _nos recubo e sheol, iam tribuno lumen vidi supremus umbras! Pro macies et-_"

Judas was interrupted when a blast of blood smashed him against the wall, causing his book to tumble across the room. "Ow!"

The black-horned demon they once knew as Eve scurried over, making sure to stand in Judas' way. "We could hear you, Judas," she laughed, flashing a mouth full of jagged, misshapen teeth. "For being so quiet, you sure can be noisy when you're invoking. Maybe Daddy should've taken your tongue when he had the chance!"

She swallowed another gulp of air, scrunching her face in preparation for another attack. Judas, darting around for a way to sneak past and get his book, couldn't bring himself to escape.

Luckily, Isaac hadn't given up the fight. "Hey, Eve! Why don't you pick on someone else?!"

A small rock smashed right into Eve's head, spinning her slightly and jarring her mouth open, forcing her bloody burst to blast into an empty wall instead. "Ow!" Frustrated, she ran towards the corner, disappearing into the shadows. "Okay, fine! I'm getting Daddy!"

A moment of silence. "Judas, you alright?"

"I'm fine. Try to get the door open, I have to grab my book." Judas sighed as he got to his feet, wiping the blood from his face and the dust from his legs. That was TOO close.

He crossed the room and bent down to pick up his book. Which was immediately crushed under the leg of a giant black goat.

A throaty voice echoed through the cavern. "Did you REALLY think you could use my own book against me?!"

Judas looked up nervously, staring right into the burning red eyes that had given him the rites of Belial in the first place. "You were expecting different from someone named Judas?"

The satanic being laughed. "Of course. Perhaps next time, I won't be so near-sighted. I'll be sure not to make the same mistake again."

He took a long breath, and Judas could just barely roll aside to avoid the wall of blood that shot down. Seeing that he missed, the creature disappeared into the shadows of the ceiling yet again.

"...Judas, who was that?"

"...Satan."

Well, that was something they'd have to talk about later. Isaac wanted to react, but the leg smashed down in another attempt to crush them, splitting the two apart once again.

So he went with the more-useful question. "How do we beat it?!"

"I don't know!" Watching the skies for any sign of the hoof, Judas scrambled to the corner and retrieved his newly-tattered book. Isaac couldn't help but eye it as Judas ran back to meet him in the center of the room. That strange gray book, the one he was so tempted to pick up himself, the one he had seen Judas use time and time again.

"Judas, let me see your book."

"What?! Why?"

"Just trust me. Give me the book, then try to distract him."

Judas gave him a suspicious look, but when a pair of black leeches whizzed by their heads, he realized there was no time to be untrusting - if Isaac had a plan, they really had to go with it. "Alright, fine!" he agreed, tossing his precious tome to Isaac before catching the attention of the leeches and running off. "But I want it back!"

With Satan and his leeches distracted, Isaac could finally flip through its worn pages for himself. The words were written in impressive script, but everything was in a language he simply couldn't understand. How did Judas know what any of this meant? What was he thinking? He had the book, but he didn't know how to use it!

_I do._

When Isaac flipped to the next page, he found the paper blank, with an impressive sheen. Instead of words, he instead found his reflection...except one that was black with red eyes, one that sported sharp horns, just like the creature outside that was attacking the others.

_See? You need me. You ARE me. You can't escape what you've become, Isaac._

Swirls of black and red took over Isaac's vision as he felt his eyes begin to bleed, and a burst of energy shot out from beneath him (...or was it from _within _him?), shaking the room like an earthquake had struck. He could hear Satan's groans of anguish as several splats decorated the walls, and the crumble of rock indicated that the wall holding them apart from their team had fallen.

The refugee dropped the borrowed tome, right before dropping to his knees and falling over. His eyes were shut tight, due to the splitting headache between them, but the cold floor (thankfully a spot devoid of blood) was a pleasant feeling as he slipped into unconsciousness.

He was right all along; that Book of Belial was bad news.

xxxxxxx

Isaac squirmed as he tried to escape the darkness. How long did it have hold of him? Where was the surface, where was the light?

_I've been here all along, Isaac...You'll find me soon enough...Soon, you'll realize everything..._

"No, please just stop! I don't know who you are! I don't WANT to know who you are! I just want to go home!"

_WHAP! _In his frantic jostling, Isaac opened his eyes as he felt his hand connect with something solid. As his vision returned, he winced to discover it was Judas' face. "...Sorry?"

"You are never borrowing my book again," Judas said flatly, swatting Isaac away before collecting his hat (which Isaac had smacked clean off of him).

"Isaac, that's the second time you've passed out," Maggie said, a look of concern on her face.

"Yeah, Isaac, we've got to stop meeting like this," Cain laughed. (Samson said nothing; he simply punched Cain in the face.)

The blonde ignored the bandit and put a worried arm around Isaac. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Suddenly, Isaac processed the presence of his comrades. "Whoa, wait, are YOU okay?"

"We'd be better if SOMEONE wasn't so slow," Cain grumbled. The eyepatch made it harder to see, but you could tell he had a glare pointed right at Magdalene.

"A real lady doesn't run," she defended curtly.

"No, she just stands around and becomes Fallen chow," Samson scoffed.

As usual, the three began another screaming match, so Isaac scooted towards their silent partner. "So what happened?"

Judas shrugged. "Apparently, you know the book better than I do."

Isaac shook his head nervously. "Oh, no, not me. I can't even read it! I have no idea what happened!" Thinking back to the book's cryptic language, he thought back to his scrap with Eve - he, too, overheard Judas' chants from behind the rock. "Speaking of it, though...when you were hiding from Eve. That wasn't the thing you used last time. W-What exactly did that one mean?"

Judas sighed. "I tried to see if it would get us out of here. With all of the darkness and that shade running around, I knew Satan would be right around the corner. I didn't want to be here when he showed up." Realizing Isaac was alright, he stood up, once again trying to brush the dust and blood away.

"Bring me power, bring me balance," he continued, translating the phrases Isaac and Eve had overheard. "Open the darkness, reveal the truth. We lay in the depths, now give unto us the eyes to see above the shadows." He tsked, adjusting his fez. "I didn't finish, but I don't think it would've..."

He paused. All of them did. There was no noise, no shudder in the walls as another demon came to hunt them down. But there was a feeling, an odd sensation that swept through the room, almost reminiscent of a summer's breeze that made all of their hearts suddenly ache for the fresh air and sunlight they hadn't seen in so long.

There was also a light, bright enough to sting all of their eyes, which were so well-adjusted to the dark. It came down from the shadowy ceiling, but reached up so far, it was impossible to tell where it led.

"...Do you think it leads back up to the house?"

"Well, it leads somewhere."

"Somewhere with light! Somewhere warm! Anything's got to be better than down here, right?"

Isaac sighed. Every time he said it, something went awry. "Well, only one way to find out, right?"

xxxxxxx

_On the way out, Isaac stumbled across a note, hand-scrawled on a piece of scrap paper...in writing not unlike his own._

_Dear Diary,_

_Today I died. I got killed by Isaac in some cold place._

_I found lots of cool stuff, though, like my pet dead bird, my Whore of Babylon tattoo, and the fires of brimstone._

_If anyone finds this, please bring those to my pet cat, Guppy. I leave everything to her._

_Goodbye, cruel world!_

_XOXO, Eve_

* * *

_There you go, angry fans who have been begging for Eve since Chapter Three. XD I hope you're satisfied and enjoy crawling through the dungeon with no damage-dealing capabilities apart from your dead bird that couldn't find an enemy if said enemy was right in front of it. Whore of Babylon's a great item for that half-second before you lose your last half-heart and die. :D  
_

_Alright, alright, no need to start a troll war over best pony. Isaac and friends have now bested their mother and defeated Satan in his dark kingdom of Sheol! With Polaroid in hand, will our heroes survive the treacherous path through the Cathedral and beyond? Only a few chapters left, so make sure you tune in next week for a new installment of _Unknown Depths Below!

_____**§ Tucker's Mayflower, signing off! §**_


	9. Stained Glass

_Hello, my dungeon-rats! We're closing in on the end of the adventure, so let's cut the ramble and go sacrifice some lambs! WHOO!  
_

**LAWYERBOT SAYS: "Something witty about the hurricane. Come on, you're all thinking it, too."  
**The Binding of Isaac, including all related characters, items, and locations (c) Edmund McMillen, because he's awesome.  
Original story of 'the binding of Isaac' (c) Genesis 22, one of the MANY Biblical fun-facts I learned on this journey.**  
**

Please note that the following is simply one take on a novelization of this epic adventure. The game is deep and symbolic, therefore meant to be open to interpretation. Please do not correct my version, merely enjoy it for the experience. :)

* * *

**CHAPTER NINE: Stained Glass**

The cathedral was a thing of beauty.

Every wall was lined with giant stained-glass windows, letting in showers of colorful light from every angle. (For the longest time, Magdalene couldn't be pulled from the floor; she bathed in the light as long as she could, enjoying the warmth and trying to dry her damp skin and damper hair.) The walls were clean, and the floors were a polished marble. The air was cool and breezy, which was a much-needed change of pace from the mold and blood they had come so accustomed to smelling.

It was gorgeous. They couldn't bring themselves to leave the room.

Which only made it that much more painful when Isaac pointed out the obvious: "Come on, guys, we have to get going."

He winced as he was met with a tired chorus of groans. Of course they didn't want to go; after what they had been through, who would want to? While his team enjoyed the peace and relaxed, Isaac went over to one of the windows and looked out. The light behind the stained glass was bright, but he couldn't make out where they were. The white plains just stretched on forever.

No place was this perfect. Every stone, every piece of colored glass, every last detail was flawless. All of the windows depicted large, beautiful crosses, which splayed shimmering whites and blues across the pristine floors. The room seemed to sparkle in its own divine perfection. If you stayed perfectly silent, you could almost hear the angels in a round of "Ave Maria." The church had never made him uncomfortable - in fact, he rather liked sitting back and enjoying the glow of the stained glass while the pastor rambled on about fire and brimstone and things he never understood. But this was not his wooden church down the street from his house on the hill.

Something wasn't right. Something deep inside him was itching to explore, to find their way out as soon as possible. And if Isaac was going to find out what it was, they had to get moving.

"Alright, you guys can stay here," Isaac sighed, moving towards the first corridor he found. "But I'm going to-"

The second the door opened, he found himself face to face with a pack of small angels. All of which unleashed a rain of bullets at his face.

In a panic, he ducked back around the corner. "...O-Okay, maybe there's no rush!"

xxxxxxx

Once again, our team found themselves outside of a familiar stone door. But instead of the head of a goat, the keystone of the doorway was a shiny marble cross.

"You go in," Maggie said, pushing Cain a bit closer.

"Me?" Cain, instead, went to push Isaac. Only to run right into Samson.

"I swear, if you two start this again..." the brunette snarled.

"It's okay, guys," Isaac volunteered, nervously eyeing the cross above the door. Crosses had never made him anxious before. They were everywhere in his house - above the front door, above Mom's TV, above his bed, above her bed...why was this one so uncomfortable? "I'll go first."

"You sure, Isaac?" There was clear concern and hesitation in Magdalene's voice, and Isaac could feel the same feelings emanating from his companions. It was reasonable, of course - he had blacked out twice now, and even ignoring his outbursts and injuries, he wasn't nearly as strong as Samson, as clever as Judas, or as fast as Cain. (He was better than Maggie, but that wasn't saying much, was it?)

Still, this felt like something he needed to confront for himself. "Yeah, I'm sure. Stay back and be careful, okay?"

With a nervous gulp, he stepped inside. This room was just as well-decorated as the rest, with glimmers of light still splayed across the floor from the walls of stained glass. ...Except that now, the windows didn't depict their usual crosses.

It was a face. Isaac's face. And it was crying. The same face made up every window.

Isaac could almost hear the frightened cries echoing from each window. ...Wait, that wasn't coming from the windows at all, was it? No, upon closer investigation, the weak sounds of whimpers were coming from the center of the room. That's where he found another lost companion, curled up in the fetal position, sobbing relentlessly.

Feeling his heart melt, Isaac took a few cautious steps forward. "Hey, are you alright? It's okay, you can stop crying, we're not gonna hurt ya...What's your name?"

Once he got close enough, the newest child sat up. Like himself and Cain and Judas, this new one had barely any hair, with the same big, brown eyes that all of them shared with their mother. Big brown eyes that seemed to be shedding tears of white.

Isaac locked up when his teary response came: "M-My name's Isaac."

This was impossible, right? This new thing on the floor couldn't be Isaac, HE was Isaac. Right? The refugee stammered in silence, trying to explain this horrifying paradox, at least to the point where he could move. What was going on? What was he supposed to do?! This wasn't like fighting the doples in the womb, this was literally staring down...well, himself!

The pseudo-Isaac took the first move, since the original hero was still stunned. "Are you gonna kill me, too, mister?"

"What? No, no, of course not! Why would I do that?!"

"You already did it once."

"Hey, look, I'm not going to-" Isaac made the mistake of reaching out and touching his doppelganger.

The copy recoiled with a shriek, letting loose a barrage of crystal-white tears. "No, don't touch me! Get away!"

"Nonono! I'm not going to hurt you, just-"

Too late; the damage had been done. The pseudo-Isaac continued his sobs, which continued to spill wave after wave of crystal-white tears in every direction. Isaac was knocked aside when one made contact - he had been beaten down by plenty of blood and sick and smog during his run, but none of those attacks BURNED as badly as these ones did. It left no physical damage, but he could feel its wrath burning down through his skin, as if the damage was torpedoing straight through him, to the point where he could start to feel every drop of the attack shooting through his heart.

He had to fight back. He didn't understand why, or even HOW he would go about it, but this...thing, this imposter needed to be stopped!

Isaac returned the attack. His tears were coarse and bloodied, thanks to all of the damage he had been taking, both from the enemies and from the items they had been scavenging to save themselves. (Cain had the bright idea of using Mom's face-peel to "toughen him up." He'd be missing skin on that side of his face for weeks.) It hurt to cry - had been for a while now, really - but it also hurt the enemies. Eye for an eye or something like that, right?

As soon as he returned the attack, though, the other Isaac sprung to life. He hopped into the air, suddenly sprouting angel wings that were as pure and white as his tears. In a flash of holy light, a trio of angel babies appeared - the same ones they had been finding throughout the cathedral, the ones that fired triple-shots of pain, except these could use the other Isaac's crystal-white tears.

He didn't look sad. Or angry. Or upset or frustrated or determined. He looked..._happy. _"I'm going to die for real this time, right?"

Isaac paused. With his team in the background to battle the angels, the combat between the two Isaacs had slowed to a crawl. "What do you mean?"

"I don't like being stuck," he answered. "Thanks for coming back and fixing things."

"Fixing things? Fixing what?"

"LOOK OUT, ISAAC!" _SHHHH-WHOOOOPM!_

Isaac barely had time to dodge out of the way of the massive blue laser that crashed through the room. (He had a feeling Samson knowing how to shoop the whoop wouldn't end well.) The pseudo-Isaac got caught up in the blast, and being so close, Isaac could hear his screams of agony as he withered into oblivion.

...Did he just kill himself? Did that really just happen?

"Isaac, who was that thing?" Maggie asked, rushing over to her brother's side. Isaac could barely bring himself to answer. He wasn't exactly sure, and the response he wanted to give wouldn't exactly reassure his sanity.

"I don't know," Isaac answered instead.

xxxxxxx

All that stood between Isaac and his answers was this golden chest. All that stood between him and clearing the confusion was this golden chest. All that stood between him and home, between him and his bedroom, between him and his crayons, between him and Guppy (...though it may have been too late for that), all that stood between him and EVERYTHING was this golden chest.

He was going to go into that chest. He was going to get to the bottom of this.

"Are you sure you don't want us to come with you, Isaac?" Maggie asked nervously.

Isaac nodded. "Thanks for everything, guys, but...I don't know what's in there. I think I have to do this myself."

"B-But Isaac, what if something goes wrong? What if you get hurt, and then we can't help you, or what if you can't fight everything by yourself, or-"

"Oi, blondie!" Maggie silenced her panicked ramble as Samson came around to Isaac, untying his signature headband. "If the kid wants to tackle this on his own, let him." He tugged Isaac close and wrapped the red bandana around his head, just as it sat on Samson's. "If you need to do this, we can't stop you."

Isaac smiled. Wearing the headband was like a macho boost, a feeling of rough-and-tumble manliness he just wasn't used to. Maybe that's why Samson was always looking for a fight. "Thanks, Sam."

Cain sighed, stepping forward as well. "Well, if everyone's getting sappy over this..." He shoved his compass and map into Isaac's hand. It was the biggest key to their success; Cain always seemed to be able to find everything, no matter where it was hiding. "I dunno what's down there, but this might help ya out." He also detached his golden ankle-cuff, instead moving it to Isaac. "Take this, too - y'know, for luck."

"Ooh, ooh, take this, too!" Maggie squealed, shoving a blue rosary into Isaac's hand. It was a lucky find they stumbled across before the shopkeeper incident; Maggie looked much better after picking it up, considering her state from the cat-head incident. She claimed it was just as lucky as Cain's lucky foot, but that was probably just to get under the bandit's skin.

"Guys, I think I'll be fine!" Isaac laughed. Still, the support was nice.

"No, you won't," Judas argued, stepping forward as well. "You don't know what's in that chest; you could barely handle the way up here without our help."

"I know, but-"

The red-hat interrupted by shoving his book into Isaac's hands. It was more-than-tattered by now, barely held together by the unmarked binding. "You need this more than I do."

Isaac gave a shudder as he looked at the black-scrawled star on its cover. He hated holding onto it...but Judas had a point.

With all of their goodbyes and good lucks out of the way, Isaac stepped forward and threw the lid of the chest open. The wood grain of the sides seemed to drop down forever, and the bottom was obscured by darkness.

So, for the last time, Isaac took a deep breath, then jumped in and dropped into the unknown depths below.

* * *

_With the cathedral completed, Isaac and his Polaroid descend to the chest! Will he survive this final twisted challenge? Can he defeat the final boss? Or will he be stopped by a series of unnecessarily-dickish rooms before he even gets there? And what kind of fantastic items will he get in the first four chest? (Considering he has a good spacebar item, my bets are on the poop, the dead sea scrolls, Mom's pad, and teleport.)  
_

_Point is, you know where you have to find the answers! Tune in to the penultimate chapter next time on Unknown Depths Below!_

_______**§ Tucker's Mayflower, signing off! §**_


	10. My Innermost Apocalypse

_Hello, my little dungeon-rats! Hope you guys packed your best items and stocked up on health; IT'S CHEST TIME! WHOO! Come on, let's get on with the show!  
_

**LAWYERBOT SAYS: "Wow, someone's excited to be done with this story."  
**The Binding of Isaac, including all related characters, items, and locations (c) Edmund McMillen, because he's awesome.  
Original story of 'the binding of Isaac' (c) Genesis 22, one of the MANY Biblical fun-facts I learned on this journey.**  
**

Please note that the following is simply one take on a novelization of this epic adventure. The game is deep and symbolic, therefore meant to be open to interpretation. Please do not correct my version, merely enjoy it for the experience. :)

* * *

**CHAPTER TEN: My Innermost Apocalypse**

Maggie was right: never jump into strange holes ever again.

The monsters in the chest were brutal; creatures like Gurdy and the Carrion Queen guarded the rooms with their lives, and evil sin-monsters like the coin-stealing shopkeep roamed free, prowling around and desperate to make Isaac their next meal.

The wood and gold labyrinth seemed to stretch on forever. The floors were unsanded and threatened to prick Isaac with splinters with every step, and the sea of fires that populated the rooms gave it a dense, smokey air that was difficult to breathe. Isaac hated that feeling of suffocation.

The worst part was the darkness. Where the Cathedral was bright and warm, this chest was back to being dark and scary. Isaac had to fight the urge to look around and focus his vision on the doors ahead of him. The crackling fires dotted the walls with dancing shadows, all of which seemed to reach out and taunt Isaac if he looked up for too long. With a rub of his dry, stained eyes, they would disappear. Maybe he was seeing things? Nobody could tell how long they had been trapped in this nightmare, all without sleeping.

Except that he would close his eyes, and the voices would follow. _Admit your sins. You're trapped. You're one of us._

Where was he going? What was he doing? What was he looking for? All he could find was monster after monster after monster.

Until finally, he found a door. In an odd moment of quiet (luckily, this room was filled with spikes, not monsters), Isaac found himself staring down a large, foreboding door. Skulls and bones made up its pillars, with a larger, horned skull at its keystone. The doors themselves were a blood-red, and seemed as if they would require all of Isaac's strength to push open.

This was the only room left, and it seemed different than all of the others. This had to be it!...whatever he was looking for, anyway.

xxxxxxx

With a heavy push, Isaac managed to force the big, red doors to swing open. At first, the room was quiet, and at first glance, seemed empty.

Then he looked again. The center of the room was filled by the blue baby, the same...thing he spotted dwelling within Mom's heart earlier.

The second Isaac stepped into the room, the baby spotted him. Its face lit up with a spooky, toothless smile, and with a wave of its hands, a line of flies spat out, all rushing straight for Isaac. It was hardly cause for alarm, despite ringing in memories of his first few steps through this nightmare adventure. They had seen more than enough flies at this point for them to be an issue.

"Hey, just calm down a second," Isaac tried to ease, hands out in a sort of peace-offering. The blue baby had none of it, though, and summoned more flies to be quickly dispatched. "Look, I don't want to fight you!"

The look on the baby's face clearly read, _oh, but I want to fight you!_ With another arm-flail, it shot out a sea of purple bullets, all of which directed themselves straight for Isaac, who had to duck and weave his way between them. Seeing that he was still missing his target, the blue baby's grin faded into a toothy scowl, and it hopped to its feet in frustration. It began firing circle after circle of pale tears; not quite the crystal-white of pseudo-Isaac's, but muddled slightly, as if there was some kind of dirt or decay ruining their color. Their color meant nothing, though - they still burned just as potently.

The tired refugee covered his eyes, biting his lip as he fought through the pain of the attacks and stepped closer and closer. Finally within the blue baby's grasp, he reached out.

_IS-SAC! _Isaac ran backwards with a scream as a bloody angel appeared in front of him, a tattered version of the protectors they found throughout the Cathedral. Instead of a smile, its face was painted with a pained scowl, and it gave a spine-tingling shriek to scare Isaac away from the attacking child.

Isaac backed up, feeling a strange tingle in his hand. It was Judas' book, shaking Isaac's hand, begging to be opened. If he used the dark powers in the book, he could fight the angels. He could defeat this...thing. He could _win._

_Don't you want to make it out of here alive, Isaac? This thing will kill you! Will you throw your life away? Live up to your namesake as the sacrificial lamb? Or will you strike this beast down and reclaim your life?  
_

Despite the murmurs in the back of his mind, Isaac threw the Book of Belial across the room. He wasn't here to win, never planned on killing everything in his path. Why was he suddenly so obsessed with death, with revenge, with succumbing to this haunting darkness?

No more.

xxxxxxx

Simply too tired to avoid the onslaught of bullets, Isaac rushed into a corner and curled up. The blue baby didn't move, so he assumed this would a safe place to take a ceasefire. However, it was still giving him a look, a taunting smile, as if waiting for him to step back into range.

Whoever...or _what_ever this blue baby was, it was dead-set on killing him.

Isaac grabbed hold of the Polaroid, which had nearly threatened to slip away during his running. Surprisingly, it wasn't the least bit smudged, despite Isaac's absolute filth. He was covered head to toe in dirt and coal and blood (...but mostly blood), and yet, not a drop of it had reached the picture. It was perfect, just like the happy family held within it.

The sheen of the photo-paper brought him back to the shiny machines in the arcade, namely the crystal ball of the fortune teller. It had seemed so long ago since that first arcade, when they found Cain behind the skulls, when Maggie couldn't play the slots, when Samson blew up the blood bank...

And when he received that cryptic message: **BRING HIM THE PHOTO.**

"Wait, that's it!" Being careful to duck and weave through the flies and tears that impeded his path, Isaac dropped down in front of the blue baby with an exhausted sigh. He held out the precious Polaroid, causing the baby to cease its attacks and look.

"Are you the one I'm supposed to give this to?" he panted.

The blue baby's eyes...or lack thereof, softened into a look of sadness. It put his hand to the picture, mouthing words that Isaac couldn't hear, but fully understood. _Mom. Dad._

Isaac could feel the pain and heartache the strange child was feeling. "I'm sorry," he whispered, though he wasn't sure what he was apologizing for.

The blue baby dismissed the shrieking angels, finally bringing the smoky chest to a deafening silence. After catching his breath, Isaac spoke again: "...Do you know what happened? What's going on? Is there anything I can do to fix it?"

The blue baby got up and nodded for Isaac to follow him.

_There was one more chest._

* * *

_Whoo, we made it! Can you guys believe we survived this long? (I mean, I can't, but I haven't seen the Chest since I cleared it with all of the characters a few months ago.) Anyway, thanks so much for all of the support, guys! Tune in to the epic finale you've all been waiting for next time on _Unknown Depths Below_!_

_________**§ Tucker's Mayflower, signing off! §**_


	11. Wrath of the Lamb

_Hello, my little dungeon-rats! The day is finally here - the FINAL chapter of _Unknown Depths Below! _It's been an amazing ride and I love you all for reading and-oh, forget this gushy stuff, LET'S GET TO THE GRAND FINALE!_

**LAWYERBOT SAYS: "Whoo."  
**The Binding of Isaac, including all related characters, items, and locations (c) Edmund McMillen, because he's awesome.  
Original story of 'the binding of Isaac' (c) Genesis 22, one of the MANY Biblical fun-facts I learned on this journey.**  
**

Please note that the following is simply one take on a novelization of this epic adventure. The game is deep and symbolic, therefore meant to be open to interpretation. Please do not correct my version, merely enjoy it for the experience. :)

* * *

**CHAPTER ELEVEN: The Wrath of the Lamb  
**

There was a stack of Polaroids sitting at the bottom of this chest. The blue baby reached inside, handing the photos to Isaac, as if to say, _here, this will explain everything._

The first was a duplicate of the photo Isaac had been cherishing for so long through this journey. It depicted himself, as well as both of his parents, all smiling for the camera without a care in the world. Isaac shook, trying to wipe away the tears that had fallen from his face non-stop throughout this nightmare. What he wouldn't give to return to those days.

The next picture was similar; it was his parents, on a pleasant outing at the bottom of their hill. His father, a thinner gentleman with a fine mustache and thinning brown hair, and his mother, just as round as ever, with her mess of blonde curl and big brown eyes. She seemed a big fuller-figured, even by typical Mom standards. Isaac flipped it over to find a message on the back. (Mom always left dates and notes on the back of pictures, just to make sure the memory was preserved.) _Just found out we're expecting! Six months 'til motherhood! (I hope it's a girl!)_

Isaac couldn't help but chuckle. _Sorry, Mom. _His mother's desire for a daughter was something Isaac grew up knowing; he did his best with the parts he was given, but still, she would go on and on about having a little blonde angel named Magdalene. He gave an embarrassed laugh as the Polaroids followed his train of memory. The next picture was of him and his mother...though you'd guess it was Maggie at first glance. In reality, it was Isaac in a curly blonde wig, with a sparkling pink dress and a crown to match. _Didn't get my pretty princess...but Isaac's the best pageant boy ever!_

He stared forever at the last few words scrawled on the back of his pageant Polaroid. "I love you, sweetie!" He could almost hear her now, feel her wet, lipsticked kisses and extra-warm hugs as she would smile down at him. He was far from popular at school - hated, even, by the local bullies - but Mom was always there for him.

She had chased him with a knife, trapped him in a basement, threatened to kill him and his siblings...and he still loved her.

The next was another picture of Isaac. If he recalled, it was taken right after Dad cut his hair, giving it the near-shaved look it had now. Up until that picture, it was a chestnut shade of brown, just like his father's. But Dad didn't like the length, nor Mom fighting to grow it out, so he took Isaac outside and shaved it all off. ("_Bald just like his daddy!_", his mother joked on the back.) He wasn't smiling in the picture; it was a sort of flat look, one that suggested he was sad when he really wasn't. Did he always look so upset in pictures?

Granted, life was rough...even ignoring the Mom and the knife thing. He didn't have friends, and he wasn't particularly good at much besides coloring. (He had learned to tap, as per his mother's wishes, which helped him manipulate her heels in his dress-up games and won him the pageant; it wasn't exactly a passion of his, though, so he didn't claim to be any good.) But was that really enough to drill this look of sadness onto his face?

Isaac nearly dropped the stack when the next picture came to the top of the pile. It showed him and his mother, gloomily staring out the window, watching a figure walk down their hill, out of their lives forever. He nearly choked on the lump in his throat. _Dad._

He still sharply remembered the day his father left. He had tried to tune out their argument with his pictures, but had no choice but to listen when Dad stormed over him, stepping on the picture he spent so long coloring. Harsh accusations and angry words were everywhere, something about three-dollar bills and rainbow babies. He even smashed the crown Isaac had worked so hard to win at the pageant.

He called Isaac an abomination; a sin. Then he ran out, and they never saw him again.

The note on the back of this picture was a bit longer. _Dear Isaac, I think you're perfect the way you are. Don't let your father upset you - Mommy's always here. XOXO_

If only that were true. His mother was different after that day, despite insisting she was fine. All of the time that used to be spent with Dad, she now spent with the television, drowning her sorrows in Christian broadcasts. She didn't take Isaac out to play - she didn't take him anywhere, actually. Not that he minded, really - he never liked playing football with the boys, much to his father's contempt. He had taken one too many dodgeballs to the face from those nasty bullies. He much preferred sitting on the living room floor and coloring.

The next picture drove a cold chill up his spine. It was his mother, with murder in her eyes and the shiny knife in her hand. Quickly pushing the image away, he flipped the picture over, finding a particularly-long note on the back:

_I always said Isaac was perfect, but now I'm not so sure. Was he right? Is Isaac a demon? Does he know sin? God seems to think so. I hear his voice calling out to me every day: kill Isaac, sacrifice your son and I will make things right! If I bring God the body of my child, would he return my husband? Should one that's innocent and unworthy of death die to resurrect the followers of Christ?_

Isaac threw aside the picture, tears falling once again. Of course! That's why Mom did it - she was trying to bring back Dad! Suddenly, the refugee felt sick to his stomach. All of this time, he thought she was crazy. All of this time, he thought something was wrong!

Something was - a woman was torn from the man that she loved, the man she swore would be beside her, for better or worse, through sickness and health, through rich and poor, 'til death did they part.

He wanted to stop looking, but felt the cold, rigid hand of the blue baby on his shoulder. The child nudged the stack towards him. There were more pictures. The story was not yet over.

The next picture was Isaac...but what was that in the background? A black shadow overtook most of the picture; its face was concealed, but Isaac recognized the warped horns it sported. The horns of the Fallen, the horns of Eve...the horns of the reflection that was always haunting him.

Isaac showed the picture to the blue baby. "What is this?" he asked, pointing to the shadow.

The child made a flipping motion with his hand, as if signifying that his response was on the back.

_What did I do wrong? Why does Mom want to kill me? Where do I go? Where can I hide? Dear God, I'm not ready to die!_

xxxxxxx_  
_

_Isaac shook slightly, rubbing his barren arms. Mom had done some crazy things before, but stealing all of his clothes and pencils and toys and locking him in his bedroom? That was new._

_Still, Isaac had very little to play with in the first place - his little allowance always went towards new pencils and crayons. He was going to grow up to be an artist, so he needed all of the practice supplies he could get. Point is, even without his pencils, he could make his own fun. He made up his own adventures: sailing the seven seas as the swashbuckler Cain, adopting stray animals and running St. Magdalene's Hospital (which he always named after the little blonde angel his mother always wanted), fighting evil snakes in the garden to protect Princess Eve, solving mysteries as the supersleuth Dr. Judas, defending the castle from the evil invaders as the mighty Samson, warrior of justice..._

_Okay, so his names were unoriginal - the only books his mother read to him were the stories of the Bible. But at least the games were fun!_

_Curious about the quiet, Isaac peeped through his keyhole, trying to spy on his mother. He found her in the kitchen, rummaging through the knife drawer. Considering it wasn't dinner-time, Isaac couldn't help but be concerned. He squinted hard and tried to focus in on what she was muttering - something about a sacrifice? And pleasing God?_

_As she turned towards Isaac's room, he decided that this wasn't about to end well. So he did the only thing he could do - duck into his toybox and hide. It was a clever spot; he had hidden in there before, despite his mother's warnings not to let the lid close. It was fine, though, just so long as he could keep a single alphabet block-_

_THUD. Well, so much for the alphabet block._

xxxxxxx

Isaac was snapped back to reality as the memory of suffocation took him over, tightening his chest and shortening his breath. Within minutes, the air inside the box had become heavy and hot, and he was clawing for breath when the blackness finally took over. He thought he had fallen asleep in that chest. Did something else happen?

When he looked up, the blue baby was gone. The chest was closed, and there was one Polaroid left. It was a picture of Isaac, curled up against his toybox, crying and alone. There was only a single sentence on the back: _What have I done?_

With the pictures sorted, Isaac turned his attention to the chest. It was a fine piece of construction - wood panels, with heavy steel along the top and corners to keep it sturdy, all brushed a sparkling gold, made with love by his father...

...Because this was no chest. This was his toybox.

In a panic, Isaac flung the top open. (From the outside, it was easy to manipulate. Being on the inside made it a bit difficult.) Inside, he found the blue baby, lying with his hand on his chest, just as Isaac had been when he blacked out during his hide from his mother.

And in that perfect moment, it all made sense. "...YOU'RE Isaac, aren't you?"

The blue baby peeked out from inside, a sorry look in its dead eyes as it gave a solemn nod. No wonder he carried that bluish tint - it was the look of suffocation. This child was the real Isaac, the one that had died when it got locked inside that toybox, trying to escape his mother's misplaced wrath.

The suddenly-not-so-original Isaac took a few nervous steps away from the box, head spinning as he tried to process everything. "So...if YOU'RE Isaac...who am I?"

xxxxxxx

_Isaac kicked and squirmed, in a panic to escape his toybox doom. "Somebody? Anybody! Help!"_

_The blackness overtook him, just as he remembered...but it wasn't the darkness of death or unconsciousness. It was the shadows of the black Isaac. _You're going to die here, Isaac.

_"But I don't wanna die! Help me get out of here!"_

I can spare you...at a price.

_"Anything, just help me!" He coughed; already, the air was too dense to catch his breath. He wouldn't be able to negotiate, so whatever this strange entity wanted, he'd have to give it. He had to escape. He had to survive!_

_...Most of all, he needed to figure out why Mom was so angry with him. What did he do that made God want to kill him? Wasn't there anything he could do to make it better?_

Surrender and self-sacrifice, son of Abraham. I cannot spare you, but spare you eternal life. You shall never die, but have never been born, and never to be born again. You will be painted in sin, a picture of salvation. Will you lie with darkness and give yourself to the light?

_"Yes! Yes, please, just get me out of here! Just help me make everything better again!"_

Very well, son of Abraham. May God look down upon your sacrifice and save ye yet.

xxxxxxx

Yes, his mom was crazy, grounding him and taking his toys for no good reason. She was tired and upset; sleep-deprivation and depression are a scary mix sometimes.

But she would never pull a knife on her only son.

The basement, the cellar, the caves, the depths, the womb, Sheol, the cathedral...none of it was real. Despite feeling every bump and bruise and ache, none of it actually happened. It was all a test - a test of willpower, a test of faith, a test to see how far he could be pushed and how far he would fight.

God tempted him to stop. The angel that had stopped his mother was sent to save him, to lure him away from discovering the truth and finishing his quest.

Satan sowed his seeds of evil. Realizing Isaac's potential for corruption, he created the shade, his whore of Babylon, to trick and seduce him. He named her after his first daughter of sin - Eve. Satan had hoped to turn Isaac into one of his sins, to keep his power trapped in Sheol and used for the forces of darkness.

His brothers and sisters? No such thing - Isaac was an only child, and that's the way it would stay. They were merely figments of his imagination, divisions of his shattered soul that needed to be brought back together. The first was his love and compassion, found within his mother's blonde angel, little Magdalene. Then came his anger, the taste for blood and revenge that started him on this path - Samson, still sporting the long hair Isaac had right before his father had cut it all off, beginning the slope that started the madness. Next was Cain, Isaac's keen eye and quick cunning that made him such a swift improver in his make-believe games; the wild streak that needed to be tamed.

Finally, there was the one in the red hat. Judas struck the closest chord with Isaac because he embodied the darkness - fear, uncertainty, shyness, all of the panic emotions that accompanied this new presence...but also the confidence that could emerge once he accepted his fate.

Judas was obsessed with discovering the truth. Now Isaac knew what it was.

"I~saac!" Finally, the shrill voice was back to its tired attempts at light and sing-song. Isaac prayed he would never have to hear the echoing taunt ever again. "Grab your book, Isaac! It's twenty 'til, we're going to be late!"

"Coming, Mom!" Hopping out of bed, Isaac rustled through his night-stand, pulling out his Bible. It was a younger version, with simpler language that he could understand, but it still had the worn leather cover as his mother's, which made it feel a bit more special.

Typical Sunday morning in the house on the hill. Mother forces son out of bed early to put on his best for morning mass, allowing him to sit and daydream while she fixes her hair and make-up, inevitably making them nearly-late for the sermon.

Isaac peeked in the mirror quickly to make sure he looked presentable. His hair had yet to grow back, which made maintenance a breeze, and it was nice to wear clothes again after (what he thought was) so long without them.

As he looked on, though, the reflection shook, snapping back to the black Isaac with the cold red eyes, forcing the child to turn away.

His eyes fell upon the toybox. It was locked now, and it would stay that way forever. The blue baby was still trapped inside. Everything was back to normal, alright...except nothing would ever be the same.

This darkness was part of him now. He could not be rid of it, he could only accept the foolishness of his actions. His desperation and fear had twisted into this demon, and now this mark of sin would follow him everywhere.

Now, life was about making things right. It was about caring for his mother, doing whatever he could to ease her sorrow and heal the wound left by his father's abandonment. It was about constant confession, always having a nervous feeling in his stomach when he entered the church and never being able to explain why he would cry so much in the light of the stained-glass windows.

It was about making the most of his second chance.

It was about taking a deep breath and exploring the unknown depths below.

**And so, on that day, the son of Abraham realized the purpose of his journey. Thou shalt not question or shift the winds of God's will, for all things shall end as He requires. God freed Isaac from his bindings, welcoming the battered child into his arms. "Do you forgive me, Lord?" the child asked. The Lord replied, "Yea, for thou hast repented thine sin and forgave yourself." **

**The wrath of the lamb had been sated.**

* * *

_Whoo! We did it! I really hope you guys enjoyed this; it's the most support I've had on a story in a long time, and I thank you guys so much for sticking through to the end! Big hugs and kisses to all of my reviewers and followers and everybody!_

_Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some other stories to write. So until next time, everyone! Bye! [hops down trap-door]  
_

___________**§ Tucker's Mayflower, signing off! §**_


End file.
